


Ductile & Emotionally Loaded

by diceysmiles



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Police, Angst and Humor, Brotherly Bonding, Canon-Typical Violence, Casual Sex, Developing Friendships, F/M, Family Bonding, Finding Thyself, Freeform, Gen, Inappropriate Humor, M/M, Original Character(s), Randomness, Romantic Friendship, Sarcasm, Some Slash, no love lost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2020-08-13 13:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 70,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diceysmiles/pseuds/diceysmiles
Summary: Jason wakes up after having been in a near-death experience. He doesn't quite understand what led him to confront Batman with the Joker as a hostage. He decides to keep a low profile in order to make sense of all he's done and mostly to avoid the wrath of the Bat. His sudden change prompts others to engage him and surprisingly, Jason does not object. Though deep down a small part of him still feels antagonistic about his life and the people in it. Another part of him wants more than he would ever care to admit. He looks at his current situation as a second chance though he's not really sure what he wants to accomplish with it.





	1. You are reading the first chapter

Jason woke up a little groggy. His mouth was dry and he wasn’t too certain where he was. There was a doctor in the room, an older woman who was looking at him with recognition.

“So, you’re finally awake,” said the doctor in a clipped tone.

“Why am I in the hospital?” Jason asked as he looked at the doctor uncertainly. He didn’t recognize her. But all he remembered about himself was his own name.

“This is my clinic,” she told him and tilted her head. “You do know who I am, correct?”

Jason rubbed his eyes slowly and using his elbows, sat up. He looked at her coat and saw her name and then he looked at the clipboard hoping he could sneak a peek. The doctor cleared her throat and moved in a little closer, she set down the clipboard and Jason noticed that she’d marked him down as John Doe. He smiled widely at her.

“Of course, Leslie,” he said hoping it wouldn’t piss her off that he used her first name.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” she asked him.

Jason closed his eyes and thought hard. He took in a deep breath and a rush of memories hit him. He started to breathe a little faster and the doctor began to tell him something but he couldn’t make sense of her words.

He remembered everything. Waking up in the coffin. The Lazarus Pit. Talia. His training. His mission. The Black Mask. All the controlled chaos he brought to Gotham to fix it. Taking over the drug trade. The beheadings. The theft. The explosions. Killing the scum that didn't deserve to live. The fucking Joker. Batman. The choice he gave him. The explosion.

“Look at me, Jason,” she told him and he snapped his eyes towards her. “Breathe with me. Deep breath in and hold.”

Jason mimicked her and then she released her breath he did as well. Before he knew it, he was calmer and breathing better.

“Okay, do you think you can tell me anything about why you’re here?” Leslie told him gently as she sat at the edge of his bed. “You don’t have to be specific.”

How had he gotten to the clinic? And why did his memories feel like they belonged to someone else? Had he really done everything he remembered? Was he really so fucked in the head that he believed what he was doing was making a difference? But it was, wasn’t it? Crime was down. Drugs were no longer being sold to children. And there were fewer criminals, drugs, and weapons on the street. But the fucking Joker was still alive. He needed to get out of Gotham. He didn’t want to confront Batman again. He was done with him and his warped sense of morality. He’d done what he could and now it was time for Gotham to do what it did best, cower under the Batman. Because it hadn’t before. Not with the Black Mask in charge of everything. He wasn’t afraid of Batman. But the Red Hood forced him into a corner and now Roman Sionis was off the Gotham map. It was only a matter of time before he returned. And Jason as the Red Hood would be ready when he did. But for the time being, he had to lay low.

“There was an explosion,” Jason told her and then he rubbed his temples. “Did he...is he okay, Leslie? Did he survive?”

“Yes,” she said, knowing full well that Jason was referring to Bruce. “He was looking for you but gave up when he realized you got away.”

“You didn’t tell him—”

“No,” she said sternly. 

“Thank you,” he said and began moving to the other side of the bed so that he could get up.

“I do not recommend you leave just yet,” she told him but Jason didn’t want to stay longer. 

“He’ll find me,” Jason said and moved a little faster. “I have to go. Where are my things?”

“You came here in this,” Leslie held up a plastic bag that she had pulled from under the bed. It only contained jeans, a pair of boxers, some no brand sneakers, and a red hoodie. “Someone brought you. I don’t know who. But it was obvious they were tending to you until they thought they could bring you here without raising suspicion.”

“How long have I been here?”

“You’ve been here for a few days,” Leslie told him and he took a relieved breath. “But it’s been a month since the explosion.”

Jason closed his eyes. Just his luck. Where had he been before? Leslie had said someone was tending to him, but who? But Jason had a nagging suspicion that it had to have been Talia who was keeping him in hiding. Fuck. He thought he’d already cut ties with her. He needed to go but he felt weak. He let himself fall back on the bed.

“I think I need to rest here for a little bit,” Jason told her already feeling out of breath.

“Give me two days to get your strength up and then you can go,” she told him. “No one knows you’re here. And Batman is out of town at the moment.”

“Okay,” he said and he felt his stomach growl. And Leslie had heard it. He wrapped a hand around his middle. 

“I’ll bring you some food. But eat slow,” Leslie told him and he nodded. 

He closed his eyes and suddenly the memories from before his death were there too. He’d been Robin. He had been homeless. He’d cared for Catherine until she died. His dad was just gone one day. Bruce had turned his life around until the Joker… Fuck! Jason didn’t want to remember. And he was feeling really confused. Why had he been so angry? Why had he wanted to kill Bruce? That didn’t make any sense. The crime-fighting and killing of thugs did make sense but Batman, where did he fit in? And Jason had kidnapped the Joker? What the fuck had he done? He thought he was doing the right thing, didn’t he? But, if he’d just killed that sick fuck instead of trying to make a point. And Batman, why the fuck did he have to be such a righteous prick all the time? He couldn’t even throw his son a fucking bone to at least bring him back to sanity by letting him kill the Joker? Had all that training prior to returning to Gotham and all those killings of thugs warp his mind? Or had it been Talia all along? Maybe it hadn’t been Talia who found him after the explosion, but then who had? And why was he thinking clearer now? Because he was certain that he hadn’t been before. Or otherwise, his memories wouldn’t feel so disjointed as if it was someone else who’d been the Red Hood. Had he been having an out of body experience the entire time? What the fuck? He had been out of his fucking mind. Completely certifiable. Mother fucker!

“Here, eat up and then get some more rest. I’ll wake you for your next meal and then have you take a short walk to loosen your muscles,” Leslie told him.

Jason swallowed hard and then sat up. “Okay.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not usually this agreeable,” Leslie said as Jason began to eat. “You never were. Not even before…”

The rest of the statement just sat between them as a dark secret no one should utter. Before he had died. He hadn’t said it but he thought it. And she was right. He was just a little out of it. And fuck, he needed to get his strength back and get the fuck out of Dodge.

“You said two days. I’m giving you two days. And I will do everything you say in order to make that happen,” he told her solemnly.

“Then I’ll leave you to your meal,” she said but before she walked away Jason asked her the paper from the day he’d arrived at the clinic. Leslie nodded and told him she’d get him whatever he needed. She seemed like she was in a hurry. Probably had to tend other patients that were outside the little room he was in. 

Jason shook his head. It didn’t matter what she had to do. She had two days and then he’d bolt. 

* * *

Just as Leslie had told him, he was up and about in two days' time. The day he had been taken to the clinic there had been an interesting development. A man by the name of Phil Hagen who had been laundering money for Mario Falcone was killed on route to the courthouse where he was supposed to testify. His place of business, a pizza shop he ran with the help of his foster son, and his apartment were burned down. The foster son was nowhere to be found for comment. Jason had a very good idea where he might find the kid. He’d been watching all the heavy hitters not just Black Mask before he went to war against them. And he knew where Mario’s underlings took their hostages. He figured out that the man who turned against Mario didn’t care about his foster son who had just turned eighteen a few weeks back. The boy on his own for the first time turned up missing. And Mario’s thugs thought they could use him as leverage. Whether or not it panned out, it didn’t matter. The foster dad was dead and Jason was willing to bet that the kid was too. He just needed to be certain before he assumed his identity.

Keeping a low profile, Jason went around Gotham in early morning hours when he knew Batman was heading back to the manor to sleep. He kept the red hoodie and decided not to try to hit any of his safe houses just in case. He snuck into an old bakery that had once been used as a speakeasy and found the cell where the kid had most likely been kept. And just as he thought, the boy was dead. Jason felt queasy when he saw the body. This boy was only one year older than him. And since he had been in the foster system, no one had cared about him to even report him as a missing person. He had no money and from the day he turned eighteen, no home. But his name, Jason was not going to use it. All he needed was his social security number and the paper file that was his life so that Jason could go about and create a new identity for himself.

But before he left the building he found out through one of Mario’s men who had killed the kid. A low-level punk by the name of Mark Spiers. Who happened to die in an unfortunate accident that morning. No one else seemed to know much about the kid or even cared to remember his name, but Jason gave the kid, John Davis, the justice he deserved. 

After that Jason went to the boy’s home where John had grown up and the public school he attended. He found the pictures of the boy. A blond kid with green eyes with nondescript features. He was so plain looking that Jason was certain he could easily pass as a grownup him. John opted out of going to public High School and was homeschooled once he was taken in by his foster parent. So there were no public pictures of him past the age of twelve. And even if there had been any in his foster parent’s house, they were burned to crips. And if his caseworker would’ve kept up with visits, he’d know what John looked like now but once he was placed in foster care the system all but forgot about him. 

Jason had gotten lucky. All he needed to do now was swap his public DNA, fingerprint, and dental records with those of John Davis. He easily found them online and swapped out the names. Then he found the hard copies at Leslie’s clinic because she just so happened to be the doctor for them both and successfully swapped the name on those as well with Leslie’s permission once she found out what had happened to John. Jason Peter Todd was already dead and John Davis would have a change of name to protect his identity from the mob. Not that they’d look for him. They had already killed him. 

Changing John’s name was easy. It was only a matter of going on a date with a very pretty and naive Legal Secretary then using her computer to draw up the change of name request. After which he placed the legal forms in front of a drunk judge who signed them and viola, name change on file at the courthouse once Jason used the paperwork to order a new social security card and Birth Certificate under his new name, Jayson Tod Peters. 

That was an alias he’d used before but now it wasn’t just a name and fake ID but an entire history, a real social security number, and orphans birth certificate. An orphan whose foster parent had been killed by the mob and had good reasons to change his name. The only people who would think to question his new identity couldn’t do it legally without sounding like they were insane because Jason Peter Todd was legally dead. Not to mention if his fingerprints or DNA were looked into, they would match his new identity. John Davis had no ties, no family, no friends, and no one who could say that Jason now Jayson was not him. Batman had trained and given Jason the tools he needed to hide in plain sight.

Jason died his hair a dirty blond to match John’s younger pictures. His blue eyes didn’t need to be hidden since John’s green eyes could easily be mistaken for blue in those early pictures. In time, Jason would go back to his dark hair. But for the time being, having a different hair color would work in his favor. He just had to sit back and wait for his new identification that would be sent to a new PO BOX he’d acquired with a fake ID he’d swiped from some kid who was buying alcohol at a convenience store before he went out to apply for a drivers license. He was lucky that John had finished High School. Now all he needed to do was think of a new career that he could take on that didn’t need him to go to college. Not only that but he needed to find a way to break into one of his stash houses. 

Jason needed money, preferably cash. Then again, he could always just skim some off a bookie or three. Not enough to be noticed but enough to get him enough pocket change so that he could get around until his new identity arrived. Jason pickpocketed some random man who obviously had more than he needed and checked into a hotel under the name Mike Jones. And then checked into another room under the name Samantha Hutchings and stayed in that one. The rooms were across from one another. And he knew that if Batman was still looking for him, he’d check Mike’s room first. Just because he’d been out of town while he was at Leslie’s clinic didn’t mean he still was. To his surprise, however, no one came looking for him that first night and in the early morning hours, he set out to rob some bookies. He needed enough money that would get him through two weeks and then he’d high tail it out of Gotham.


	2. You are reading the second chapter

Jason sat on top of the rooftop of the hotel where he was staying. He smoked a cigarette while he listened to a police scanner. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a red and green blur and he realized right away that it was Robin. Jason figured his replacement was done for the night and was heading home. So he took another puff of his cigarette and just watched the horizon biding his time.

A soft thud had him turning around to see his replacement standing up from a crouch and looking right at him. Though his eyes seemed to linger on Jason’s head or more precisely the blond hair that Jason had recently acquired. Jason was staring at the young man with an unreadable expression. Didn’t even seem to react at seeing Robin like most people did. But his mind was reeling at the fact that his replacement had the fucking balls to confront him. A little voice niggled in his mind to attack him to show him who the real Robin was and another part was very curious to know why the replacement sought him out. Because he wasn’t stupid enough to think that the encounter was random. 

Robin, in turn, felt a little nervous though tried to hide it with his rigid stance all the while chanting in his head, ‘_just be cool._’

“You do know those are illegal?” Robin said as he gestured to the police scanner for lack of anything else to say. 

Robin had tracked down the Red Hood’s movements that started up just a few days ago when he hit a couple of bookies. He wasn’t in his normal gear but from the video Robin found of the person involved, he knew right away that it had been Jason Todd. His movements and attack pattern matched. Not to mention, he had the same gait and build like the Red Hood. He doubted anyone else would have noticed unless they knew what they were looking for or they may have only been focused on the clothes the assailant was wearing. And to further surprise Robin, Jason was in civvies, unarmed, and smoking like he didn’t have a care in the world. Where was his gear? Why wasn’t he vigilant of his surroundings? What the hell was going on?

“It’s not mine,” Jason replied and turned away from his replacement as if he didn’t give a rat’s ass what Robin thought of his current past time.

“That’s what they all say,” Tim said sounding a little amused. He moved slowly into Jason’s line of sight. He wasn’t sure what to expect from the other man, especially after reading Batman’s reports on the Red Hood. But as Tim looked at him, he didn’t look unhinged as Batman had described. He wasn’t even angry. Looked docile. Not dangerous. But that just put Tim more on alert. And at the same time made him more curious. This was Jason. The second Robin. The one who was severely missed by the entire family. Even Tim, though he’d never met him in person. Just took some very good pictures of the boy back when he was following, not stalking, Batman and Robin.

“I guess I’m not as original as I thought,” Jason said with a smirk.

Tim smiled and then relaxed, sitting on the roof placing his hands on his knees. Jason raised an eyebrow. He’d thought his replacement had come looking for a fight. Or maybe he was biding his time until Bats arrived.

“Original is overrated,” Tim said with a shrug and looked away towards the direction the current chatter on the police scanner mentioned. But he didn’t leave or react to the information in any way and then he slowly turned to look at Jason again.

“It’s actually underrated. True story,” Jason said punctuating his statement by putting out his cigarette on the gravel that was on the roof.

Tim chuckled under his breath and shook his head.

“So what are you going to do, confiscate it?” Jason said gesturing to the police scanner.

“Actually,” Tim said and seemed to decide something right then. “I need your help.”

“My help?” Jason said putting a hand to his own chest and his eyebrows almost reaching his hairline in shock.

“Yeah,” said Tim a little nervously. “I mean, you’re the Red Hood.” Jason cocked an eyebrow. “But what’s more important, and the person I need help from is actually the one I’m looking at.”

“And who is that? Samantha Hutchings?” Jason said placing his hands behind his back on the roof and leaning on them.

“Jason Todd,” Tim said and took off his domino mask so that Jason could look in his eyes and see how serious he was.

“Jason Todd died,” Jason said sitting up and started counting on his fingers giving up after count three. “A few years back. I’m sorry you mistook me for him, but that’s not me.”

Tim sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. He was stressed out Jason realized. What kind of help did his replacement need? Jason really really wanted to know. And he could’ve kicked himself for caring but he fucking did and didn’t know why.

“Fine, you got me. Satisfied,” Jason said as Tim looked up at him in surprise. “What do you need help with, Replacement? And why can’t the Bats help?”

Jason reached over to turn off the police scanner. It was starting to grate his nerves. Especially since he’d decided to lay low—the fact that he didn’t have access to his gear, notwithstanding—and out of sight was making him stir crazy.

“He’s off-world,” Tim said making Jason look over at him. So that was why Jason hadn’t seen the Batman looming over his bed at night. “And before he left he was not very talkative.”

Jason let out a gruff short laugh. “Was that a joke? Cause he never was very talkative unless he was giving a fucking lecture on…” Jason cleared his throat and waved his hand. Fuck that replacement for making him think of Batman as a person. A person he used to like. And if he were being honest—No! He wasn’t going to be honest and he needed to stop thinking. “It doesn’t matter. So what’s really got your tights in a twist?”

“Dick is missing,” Tim told him and held his breath. 

“Uh-huh,” Jason said but he said it slow and soft filling in the gap of silence Tim had left. Cause Jason knew there was more to it than that. Then he closed his eyes as he remembered the catastrophe that had befallen in Bludhaven just as Jason was facing off with the Bats. “Fuck.”

“Br-Batman said he was…” Tim said and shook his head. “But I don’t believe him. If it was true, he wouldn’t be off-world on a mission, he’d be beating thugs to a pulp like he did after you died.”

Tim closed his mouth quickly and tightened his lips. He hadn’t meant to say that. He hoped it hadn’t upset Jason. He really needed Jason’s help to find out what happened to Dick. Because he couldn’t be...he wasn't dead! Tim’s breathing quickened a little and he rubbed his chest where he felt it started to get tight and suddenly Jason was in his face.

“Alright,” Jason said putting a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Breathe with me.”

Once Tim got his breathing under control, Jason looked at him seriously.

“Okay,” Jason said and just let his ass fall on the roof from the crouch he’d previously been in. There wasn’t that much space between the two boys, but neither felt crowded. And Jason didn’t want to move away lest Tim had another panic attack he was barely holding at bay. “Let me get this straight. Bludhaven goes up in smoke. Golden Boy goes missing. Batman tells you he’s pushing daisies. But then, doesn’t seem to give a shit? Is that everything?”

“Pretty much,” Tim said.

“He’s a lying sack of shit,” Jason said and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Have you looked into it?”

“Batman ordered me not to,” Tim said and scratched his shoulder. “But I did anyway.”

“And? What you find out so far?”

“He survived the blast and was helping people get to safety but then the trail goes cold there.”

“What do you mean?” 

“He seemed to have gotten everyone first responders couldn’t reach to safety but then he went back to ground zero even though he was told by the authorities not to because the area was contaminated with radiation and then he never came back out. No one wanted to risk going in to search for him. And those who did want to weren’t allowed.”

“That’s all you got?”

Tim nodded and looked away sheepishly.

“Well, there you go,” Jason said with a snap of his fingers.

“What?”

“He’s alive,” Jason said with a nod and patted Tim’s knee. “So no worries.”

“But then why would Batman say he was…”

Tim couldn’t say the word.

“Because he’s an asshole?” Jason supplied but Tim frowned needing more of an explanation. One Batman would not supply and Jason could only guess the reason. “Look, just listen to the old man. Something is obviously up.”

“Like what?”

_What a nosy little fucker_, Jason thought and mentally sighed. There could be only one reason he could think of that ironically was exactly what he’d wanted but the nosy little bird with keen eyes had uncovered it and sought him out. If he did that with Dick… Jason suppressed the need to react.

“Birdbrain went underground,” Jason said as if it were logical. “Whatever the reason, Batman knows about it and since he’s paranoid, told you golden boy was a goner so that you wouldn’t stick your nose where it didn’t belong.”

Tim scowled and looked younger than he had since Jason had laid eyes on him. He was being stubborn too, the little jackass.

“You might actually put his life in danger if you keep digging,” Jason said looking Tim in the eyes and seeing that Tim was giving him the same look of annoyance that a brat gave their parents when they were receiving advice they didn’t deem consequential. “I’m being serious. Dickface will come back around when the time is right. And just to calm your tits, I’ll leave breadcrumbs for Big Bird to follow. Leave it to me, he’ll come out of his hidey-hole just to say hello. And when he does, I’ll contact you. How does that sound?”

Tim sighed and rubbed his head in frustration. Bruce wouldn’t have lied to him unless it was something crucial. Or at least he hoped. He knew Jason was closest to the truth about what happened to Dick than he was because he had nothing so far other than thinking Dick was in trouble somewhere. But if what Jason said was true, it was _probably_ best if he listened to him. Bruce wanted him to stay out of it. So he would. But he would hold it to Jason to get him answers soon or else he’d start digging again. 

“Fine, I’ll trust you,” Tim said. _For now_, he amended to himself.

Jason’s eyebrows hiked up to his hairline.

“What?” he said elongating the word in mock hurt. “And here I thought you already had, Replacement. Who the fuck asks someone they don’t trust for help? There is a little screw loose in that big brain of yours.”

“And a big one in yours,” Tim said with a smirk.

“Huh?” Jason said stupidly. Then he shook his head. “Nope, no, no way. You did not just say that.”

“You got yourself a great alias and then you changed his name back to your own. Who does that?”

“In case you didn’t catch it, his name was only one step up from John Doe. Yeah, no. Besides, I do happen to like my name,” Jason said pointing at himself with his thumb. “Not to mention the fact that it just didn’t feel right using the name of a previously deceased person.” Tim looked at him incredulously. Jason chuckled without humor. “I know, the irony. Fun fact, he was a lot like me. But instead of getting help from the Bats, some fucktard took him in and kept him out of trouble. Even if he was using him as a free hand. And he still turned up dead. It made me realize that perhaps if I would’ve gone to a boy’s home instead of this life,” he gestured to Tim’s outfit, “it wouldn’t have made a difference. I would’ve had the same ending. And since I got a second chance, why not give the poor fucker another one too.”

Tim didn’t say anything for a moment and neither did Jason. 

“The point I was trying to make,” Tim said after the silence had drawn out to an awkward pause. “The name you chose led me right to you. So…” Tim brought up his gauntlet and a small hologram computer screen came up. “I’m going to fix that before Batman comes back. You can’t be Jayson Tod Peters. Hey, why not use the name you’re using now?”

“Red Hood?” Jason said with a serious face tilting his head to the side a little.

“No, idiot, Samantha Hutchings,” Tim said without looking at Jason as he hacked into the social security to change Jason’s change of name request to a different name. 

“Because I don’t have tits?” Jason said as he rubbed his chest. “This is a man’s chest.” He patted his chest to get Tim’s attention. “Man boobs, not girly ones.”

Tim stopped typing and studied Jason with an incredulous look. Then he shook his head. He wasn’t touching what had just been said at all.

“Samuel Hutchings, how does that sound?” Tim said once he finished typing with a small smile.

“No,” Jason said not happy that he couldn’t get Tim to react to his idiocy. “My name’s Jason. And Samuel is gay.”

“You’d rather go with Samantha?” Tim said genuinely curious ignoring the last statement again.

“Yes,” Jason said with a slight nod. Tim raised an eyebrow. “The orphanage couldn’t tell if I was a boy or a girl?”

Tim chuckled. Jason smirked.

“How ‘bout just Sam then?”

“Yeah, I can live with that. Jason Sam…” he made a gagging sound, “Hutchings.”

“Jason Sam Hutchings for the win,” Tim said in a monotone voice making Jason snort. Tim finished with the social security hack and dove into the birth certificate one before he went about changing the name on the DNA, fingerprints, and dental records. 

“What about the legal papers I filed?” Jason said with a frown. All that work he’d put into a new identity and his replacement just overrode it with a flick of his gauntlet. “And the hard copies of those records are in Leslie’s office. I don’t think I should go back there.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Tim said without looking up from his computer screen. “And legal forms are easily lost or misplaced. A clerk is accidentally shredding them right about now.”

“You _planned_ this?” Jason didn’t know what to make of Tim. But he needed to keep an eye on this kid. If he became the Red Hood what would Tim become if he ever got killed and was brought back to life with a vendetta against the Bats?

“Of course,” Tim said and pulled out a phone from his utility belt. “It’s registered under Samantha Hutchings, by the way. Thought it would be funny. Didn’t think you’d actually claim the name.”

“I can’t afford this without any money or a job,” Jason said in annoyance. He couldn’t fake income without drawing attention to himself. 

“Oh, you do have a job. Came with a start-in bonus. You’re a janitor at Wayne Enterprises. And you have a bank account, I’m changing the name on that account though. Is it okay if I leave off the Jason part of your new name? Also from your employee record as well?”

“You know, there are perfectly healthy people in need of extra income that would actually show up to work and earn that money,” Jason said crossing his arms over his chest.

“And you think you won’t be earning it?” Tim said in a challenge. “Your shift starts in an hour.”

“The fuck?” 

“Janitors are allowed to wear hats and you’ll never cross paths with you know who or anyone who will recognize you. Besides, you already changed your hair and you’re legally dead so you have that going for you as well.”

Jason glared at Tim who smiled sheepishly.

“Where do I get my uniform?” Jason said tight-lipped as he stood up.

“It’s on the bed,” Tim said with a nervous smile now that he wasn’t busy fiddling with his computer he was able to pay attention to Jason’s demeanor. “In your room. And I already checked out Mike Jones.”

“Kid, you’re lucky you came to me when I was in a good mood, otherwise, you and I would have serious problems,” Jason said as he went towards the edge of the roof to access his room window. “Oh, and as soon as I get the shit that proves who I say I am, I quit!”

“I know,” Tim said with a chuckle feeling grateful that Jason wasn’t truly annoyed with him. “That’s why you were hired as a temp.”

“Fucking freaky genius birdbrains,” Jason grumbled as he disappeared over the edge making Tim laugh.

Tim’s phone vibrated in his pocket once Jason was out of sight. 

** _Get me my money from my old house. And put it under my mattress for a rainy day._ **

** _That’s not a good idea. Besides, I already raided your ‘old houses' and took plenty of useful shit for your nighttime pleasures. _ **

Tim texted a map with a pin that would direct Jason to a new stash house.

** _Kid, you’re really starting to creep me the fuck out._ **

** _I do what I can._ **

** _Stop texting me, Tammy, I need to get ready for work._ **

** _Tammy?_ **

** _If I’m Samantha, you’re freaking Tammy. Deal with it, sugar tits._ **

Tim barked out a laugh and put his domino mask back on. He went to the edge and readied his grappling hook. 

** _No problem, perv._ **

** _You know you like it when I talk dirty to you._ **

** _Stop!!!!_ ** ****

** _Are you insinuating textual harassment?_ **

** _No. You’re making me laugh mid-swing. Just stop before I die._ **

** _Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Tammy-bear. Besides, I’ve done that already. Dying truly is overrated._ **

** _I’ll take your word for it._ **

** _Atta girl!_ **


	3. You are reading the third chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this chapter 4 days early. The next chapter will post in 18 days.

_ **Tammy!** _

Jason was walking down the street towards the motel he was staying at after having had a late-night meal at a nearby diner. And once again as had been happening recently, there was a shadow following him so closely it almost felt like the other person was breathing down his neck. The feeling was just a fucking agitating itch like a tendril that crawled over his senses while that shadow hopped across rooftops just to keep up with him. And maybe if they were following someone other than the Red Hood they wouldn’t be noticed but Jason had been trained to notice and was always aware of his surroundings especially those that included moving fucking shadows that he caught from the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t a newb so he knew better than to turn no matter how much his instincts wanted him to and that just added to the frustration he felt. He’d tried to lose his stalker and even tried engaging it the night before but when he did, whoever it was had just disappeared. One moment there was the feeling of eyes on him that he was absolutely certain was listening to him shout “come out, come out, whoever you are! I promise not to bite!” and the next, nothing. Not even a sound and the mysterious stalker was gone. 

Until just now.

_ **Little busy atm** _

Jason snorted. _He can’t be that busy if he can read a text and answer._

_ **It’s a quarter after one** _

_ **Srsly? ** _

_Yeah, seriously. When am I not serious? Oh right, when I’m being a hilarious asshole that’s when._

_ **I’m a little drunk** _

_ **aytmtb** _

_Is he just texting random letters now? ATM meant at the moment, right? But this? Maybe they actually spell a word like the last one. Or more than one word? Hmm, ay tim tab. Uh… Well, whatever. I don’t care. What was I saying? Oh right…_

_ **And I need you now** _

_ **…** _

_Did his phone break? Why is there just blinking ellipsis? _

_ **Everything okay at your end?** _

_ **…** _

_Uh… It’s been about two minutes. What the fuck Tim?_

_ **Tam-bear?** _

_ **csl** _

_Not even going to pretend to understand this shit._

_ **Yeah, I was dead for a bit. Have no idea what that means.** _

_ **Sorrynotsorry. (Can’t stop laughing) ** _

_Huh. You _ ** _do_ ** _ learn something new every day._

_ **Ah. Anyway, I have a tail. ** _

_ **A mook got away from me and ran right into B when I burst out laughing. I was sent home for texting my gf. Thanks btw** _

Jason hadn’t read the last text when he sent his location to Tim immediately after his last text. But when he did, he sucked in a breath. He figured that Tim wouldn’t bother to respond if he was in the middle of a fight. But it seemed he was either more reckless than Jason had been as Robin or he thought he was facing an easy opponent. Either way, it didn’t sit right with Jason. The kid needed to be on alert at all times. 

Jason stopped outside the motel and lit a cigarette while he waited for Tim to show up. He hated having to turn to the kid for help but whoever was following him was very persistent and didn’t have plans to confront Jason any time soon. But Jason was going to take the option away from his stalker. He wanted to take a shit in peace not while knowing someone was watching him from the rooftop of the building adjacent to the one he was in. 

* * *

Tim made his way over to Jason’s location quickly. He figured it was something that needed immediate attention. Otherwise, Jason wouldn’t have texted. The last time they saw each other was on the rooftop of the motel almost two weeks back. They texted about nonconsequential things like how much Jason hated being a janitor or how much Tim hated taking time to actually sit down for a meal because it was a complete waste of time. The types of texts that didn’t need to be answered. Not conversation just complaints to a third party listener. But mostly Jason texted tips about deals going down or Tim texted his and B’s location so that the Red Hood wouldn’t cross paths with Batman. Though Tim had quickly realized that if Jason did not want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. And he wondered whether or not Jason had allowed him to get close to him on purpose or perhaps he may have been waiting for Batman and got him instead. Tim didn’t ask and Jason never brought it up. 

As soon as Tim was only a building away, he caught sight of Jason’s tail. She looked up at him and tilted her head to the side more than likely wondering why Robin had shown up when he did. Robin was supposed to be stopping a merry band of robbers with Batman except that the robbers were no match for them and wouldn’t even be a match for a primary school-age child if Robin was honest. He’d teased them until Batman showed up and then he got the hilarious text that made Batman send him away with a promise of a lecture to come. Tim wasn’t looking forward to that but he knew he deserved it. He shouldn’t have been fooling around but he was still a little peeved at Batman for lying to him about Dick but he decided to trust Jason and let it go. And he really should instead of taking it out on unsuspecting d-list criminals. 

Tim stopped his advance and acknowledged Bat Girl aka Jason’s tail with a nod. He pulled out his phone to text Jason before he asked her what she was up to and why she was stalking Jason. Did she know who he was? Was she following him on Batman’s orders? He would find out soon. 

_ **Does your tail come with cute ears? ** _

_ **Yeah, couldn’t tell you. Been on me for close to a week and all I’ve seen is a shadow. Can’t shake ‘em and it’s starting to annoy me** _

_ **I have eyes on her** _

_ **Her?** _

_ **Yeah. Give me a minute ** _

_ **Right** _

* * *

Jason put out his cigarette on the sole of his boot before he tossed it in the trash and made his way up to his room. Halfway there he received a text from Tim to meet on the roof. Jason smirked but then sighed in frustration. Whoever it was, it was more than likely a friend of the Bat. And that just wouldn’t do.

When he reached the roof, he noticed Tim facing a petite thing that was black from head to toe. Not even an inch of skin to be seen. Jason immediately knew who that was and quickly made his way to stand next to Robin who was standing completely stiff and ready to fight. Jason was good at what he did but even he knew that the two of them had no chance against this little devil. Not even if they worked together. Then again, if he went at her alone he could eventually wear her out. He was bigger and stronger just not faster but he did have a stubborn streak of never going down easily. But still, her presence meant he’d been made and that sucked wholeheartedly.

“How deep in this shit are we?” Jason asked Tim without taking his eyes off the mini bat.

“She wants to talk to you,” Tim said and made no indication that he was okay with that predicament. “Alone. But I’m not leaving.”

“Really?” Jason said and scratched the back of his head. He took a step forward and to the side so that he was blocking a little of Tim hoping the kid would know that he could leave if he wanted to. All he’d wanted to do was confront his stalker not to involve Tim further. But now Jason’s attention was solely on the mini bat and she was fully aware of it.

“Why now?” Jason said through gritted teeth. “What was wrong with last night?”

“You,” Bat Girl pointed at him. “Angry.”

“No shit I was angry. You’ve been following me and I’m not okay with that.”

It hadn’t escaped Jason that Tim hadn’t moved a muscle. Was the Bat Girl not an ally of his? Because as far as Jason knew, she worked for Batman. And the two of them teamed up on occasion.

“Watching you.”

“I got that. What I don’t get is why? What do you want from me?”

Bat Girl shook her head hoping he understood she didn’t want anything from him.

“Happy,” she said pointing at herself then at Jason.

Jason took a step back almost bumping into Tim’s shoulder and rubbed the back of his head in frustration.

“Why?” Jason said and tightened his fists. “I don’t understand.”

“You very angry,” Bat Girl said and lifted her fists up to show them to him not to threaten. “I made good choice. Hid you. You better now. Makes me happy.”

Jason stared at her in shock. He looked at Tim then back at the Bat Girl before he completely turned his back to her to face Tim.

“Did you know about that?” Jason asked desperately as he gestured to Bat Girl behind him waving his hand in a small circle that encompassed her entire being.

“About what?” Tim said feeling confused. Not just about Jason’s question that made no sense to him at all but about the entire interaction. What did Bat Girl have to do with Jason? And was it really true that she wasn’t going to tell Batman his whereabouts? Or at least that was what Tim understood when he spoke to her before inviting Jason up on the roof. And since when did Bat Girl speak so much? Especially about feelings. Tim was utterly confused.

“That she—!” Jason faced Bat Girl again. He had thought it was Talia that had nursed him back to health and dropped him off at Leslie’s clinic. But it had been this girl, ally of the Bat, who had stuck her neck out for him? What the fuck was he supposed to say to her? “It was you?!”

Bat Girl nodded.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jason said and rubbed his head again. “But why? Why did you do it?”

Bat Girl pointed at herself then at Jason. “Same.”

“How are we the same?” Jason asked.

Tim looked over at Jason curiously. How did he understand all that? Tim still had a hard time keeping up with her on the field for the very reason that she didn’t do a good job of communicating no matter how simple the explanation. They fought well together, but he'd have to follow her lead or hope she understood everything he said. But from what he could tell Jason wasn’t just reading between the lines, he was filling in the blanks. 

“Hard,” Bat Girl said and then did something Tim had never seen her do, she fidgetted. “Kill. Not kill. Hard.”

“Having blood on your hands doesn’t make us the same,” Jason said angrily.

Bat Girl shook her head. Then pointed at her head then at her heart. “Hard. Kill. Not kill. Hard.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t a hard choice for me,” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest.

Bat Girl nodded then pointed to her head and heart then at Jason. “Now?”

Jason let out a breath. He rubbed his head. “Yeah, now it is.”

Bat Girl nodded. She pointed at Jason then at herself. “Same. I help. Good choice.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jason said and made his way to the edge of the roof to let her know he was done with this conversation. But he kept an eye on her the entire time just in case. He wasn't about to thank her. Especially since she’d been stalking him to the point of annoyance and he hoped that she would finally stop. “Just stop following me around or I’ll report you as a peeping Jane.”

“Robin,” Bat Girl said ignoring Jason’s last remark and when Tim turned to look at her she made a cross on her heart. “Not tell.”

“Uh, okay,” Tim said and nodded though he hadn’t understood what she meant by that. Did she not want him to say she’d been stalking the Red Hood? Why would he? He was against telling Bruce that Jason was still in Gotham. 

In a blink of an eye, Bat Girl was gone.

“She just crossed her heart and hoped to die,” Jason said amusedly seeing how confused Tim was. “Whatever it is you wanted her not to tell, she just promised she wouldn’t.”

“How the hell did you guess that?” Tim asked completely confused.

“I don’t know, kid. I just paid extra attention to her gestures I guess. Anyway, want a beer or something?” Jason said looking over at Tim.

“I’m not twenty-one yet,” Tim said in annoyance.

“Yeah? Neither am I. But I could sure use a beer right about now,” Jason said with a shrug and then hopped over the ledge. 

Tim let out a breath and shook his head. He still didn’t know what that whole conversation was about and he didn’t really care to know. He was just happy that Bat Girl promised to keep Jason’s whereabouts a secret from Batman. Because who knew how Jason would react if he faced him again. Tim didn’t want to have to be witness to a showdown between them and was glad not to have been in Gotham the first time around. At the moment, Jason seemed to be keeping his cool. He hadn’t even killed anyone since that faithful day that Batman didn’t want to talk about. Or at least, as far as Tim knew he hadn’t. At least he could say he understood that if he did ever decide to, it wouldn’t be on a whim. Tim hoped Jason never had to make that choice again. Because what would he do? Would he stop keeping Jason a secret from the Bat? He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about that. And maybe since Bat Girl was keeping an eye on Jason and Jason knew about it, perhaps he wouldn’t do anything stupid while he was in Gotham. But Tim knew, in a matter of days, Jason would have his new ID and would leave. He just hoped that when he did, he’d stay in touch. 

_ **Coming or what? I do have coffee and other sorts of refreshments.** _

_ **Why not. Give me a sec.** _

Tim made his way to his R-cycle and pulled out a change of clothes before he went back to the motel. When he made his way up to Jason’s room, he was already in civvies. Jason offered him an expresso in a can which made him smile. He cracked the can open and took a sip just as Jason placed a photo on the tabletop where they were both sitting. Tim raised an eyebrow and Jason slid a photo towards Tim. It was Dick. Tim looked at the photo mouth agape.

“I kept my promise, Replacement,” Jason said.

“Where did you get this?” Tim asked as he turned the photo around. It had a case number on the back. Tim wondered if it had anything to do with the Bludhaven police department. But that didn't make any sense. Last Tim had heard, Dick had quit the force.

“I happen to know someone who knows someone who knows someone.”

“That’s a lot of someones,” Tim said with a slight frown.

“Well, I do know more someones but I figured you got the gist of it,” Jason said with a smirk as he tipped a bottle of beer over his lips and took a long swig. “The FBI has eyes on that house. Dick moved in a couple of days ago. But the FBI doesn’t know who he is which is weird seeing that he’s Bruce Wayne's very famous ward. So what does that tell you?”

“B is blocking their search,” Tim said and pushed the photo back towards Jason who pulled out a lighter and set the thing on fire.

“If I were you, I’d forget about the case number you just saw,” Jason told him as he watched the photo burn and didn’t let go to place it in the metal ashtray until the fire licked his fingertips. “Someone is monitoring it. And I know you have awesome hacking skills but if I were you, I wouldn't take that chance.”

Tim just sighed and tightened his fists.

“Sorry I couldn't get more information for you but seriously, kid, you need to keep your nose out of this one,” Jason said seeing the wheels turning in his head. “I mean it.”

“I will,” Tim said and held Jason’s gaze until Jason nodded.

“On another not so angsty note,” Jason said and showed Tim a few envelopes. 

Tim noticed right away what they were. Jason’s new identification.

“When are you leaving?”

Jason tilted his head to the side as he regarded Tim. 

“Are you gonna miss me?” Jason said with a wide smile. He was touched really. But it didn’t make any sense. They hardly knew one another.

Tim scoffed. “I have your number.” 

But he realized as he said that that he would miss Jason. He didn’t know him very well, besides the fact that he was a funny asshole. And he’d been a great Robin. But as the Red Hood, Tim didn’t know what to make of him. He had stayed under the radar so well not even criminals let on that he was still around. But he was counting on him to keep him up to date on whatever was going on with Dick. Tim sighed. He’s stayed in Gotham longer than he wanted to anyways. He was ready to get back to his team and now that he knew that Dick was alive and where he was, he could rest at ease a little more. He just knew he would continue to worry about him. And he’d also worry about Jason now that he was leaving Gotham. He tapped his fingers on the table but decided not to voice his worries aloud.

“Yeah, that you do,” Jason said after a moment. And having witnessed some sort of emotional distress in Tim’s eyes he decided to throw the kid a bone. “I suppose I should tell you before you cyberstalk me to find out... I passed the entrance exam for the New York State Police Academy.”

Tim spit out his drink, luckily he’d turned his face to the side so it sprayed all over the wall instead of all over Jason.

“Shit, kid,” Jason told him and chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d react so violently.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Hey, what better place for the Red Hood to hide while in New York than a police academy?”

“I…” Tim shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know whether or not you’re really smart or just brazenly stupid.”

“Thank you,” Jason said with a wide grin.

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Are you sure?” Jason said rubbing the back of his neck. “No one ever notices when I’m brazenly stupid. That your freaky big brain did makes me proud, Replacement. Just so you know, it’s not as simple as it looks.”

Tim chuckled at that and silently had to agree. No one could pull off half the stupid shit that Jason made look easy, not to mention walk away having accomplished whatever they’d set out for.

Jason finished off his beer and tossed the bottle in the trash. He stood up and grabbed his paperwork slipping it into his leather jacket before heading towards the bed. He had a black duffle there and a bus ticket laying beside it. He grabbed both and headed for the door. As he was stepping over the threshold he looked over his shoulder and pointed at Tim.

“Next time I text you when you’re in the middle of something and you answer me, I’ll come back just to kick your ass,” Jason said making Tim’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Don’t make me come back, Replacement.”

Tim sighed heavily and got up to follow Jason down the steps. He didn’t want to be an asshole and joke about the fact that Jason cared. The fact that he did meant something to Tim. And he was more willing to take Jason’s advice because he did care about him. And it was not because he had to due to some misplaced moral obligation but simply because he was who he was. Because he was Tim some kid from Gotham who needed Jason’s help. And also because he was Robin. The no-so-replacement. Jason couldn't be replaced. Batman had just needed a Robin. So Tim filled that role. Tim realized right then that that was the reason why he cared about Jason. He’d been the former Robin and his hero. But it was also that he was Jason. A fellow Gothamite who was willing to stick his neck out for him. Jason was someone who was trying with everything he could offer to do the right thing just like him. Because, even as the Red Hood, he offered hope to those who needed it. Jason would always be Robin. And that made them something like family. 

They walked down to the alley where Tim had stashed his cycle. They separated there, Jason lifting a hand with his back already to Tim and Tim saying a quiet “see you around, Jay.”


	4. You are reading the fourth chapter

Jason didn’t regret a lot of things. But this. The academy. Yeah, he was starting to regret this move. It wasn’t because he had to wait in the parking lot alongside the other recruits who were all wondering whether or not they arrived on the right day and time until the instructors decided to give them entry. It wasn’t that the instructors shouted in their faces and forced the recruits— Jason included—to do pushups for violating some academy policy that none of them had ever heard of twelve steps past the gates. Not even because they were reprimanded very loudly for getting their uniforms dirty due to said pushups being performed on the very filthy asphalt. It wasn’t even the fact that they were forced into formation and marched through the academy like soldiers to receive locker, dorm, and seating assignments. Or for being yelled out for not marching quickly enough. Or not bringing proper items such as biodegradable shit that anyone who wasn’t raised by environmental nuts didn’t care a single fuck about. Or being forced to do mountain climbers because someone—not Jason oddly enough—had died their hair. Or told to do handstands until they were red in the face because a few recruits had piercing holes in their faces even though the jewelry was nowhere to be seen. Or having to stand next to their desks because they had to await proper orders to do something as simple as placing their ass on the seat. Or getting yelled at for not saluting the retired chief who just so happened to be sitting in the back of the room wearing jeans and a t-shirt that everyone had thought was the instructor’s ghost of Christmas future who was simply there to make certain that if all the marching and shouting and pushups and other random exercises hadn’t driven them crazy, he would. Not even because they took their seats as commanded but forgot to say "Sir, yes sir!" and were forced to do it again like naughty dogs who had to do tricks over and over until they were perfect before they were even allowed to get a treat. Except they didn’t get treats. They were yelled at and forced to do wall sits for showing off. And amidst all the verbal and physical abuse they were supposed to learn academy rules, drills, and ceremony procedures. But most of them forgot everything they were supposed to have memorized the previous day and were yelled at and forced to do more physically demanding shit that wasn’t helping them memorize anything other than how to properly do an exercise. No, his regret wasn’t because of any of that nonsense. It was because they were ordered to clean out the microwave in the break room that Jason knew hadn’t been cleaned since before he was born. 

Jason was not touching that shit. Not with gloved hands. Not with a stick. Not even the steel wool the instructor handed to him specifically because he saw the look of utter revulsion on Jason’s face. And Jason was from Gotham. He’d seen junkies homes that didn’t look half as gross as the inside of that fucking microwave and he said so as much as he grabbed the box and tossed it out a closed window breaking the glass and making the entire class and anyone who was in close proximity cheer when they heard it bust into pieces as it landed on the ground from two stories up. The instructor shut everyone up and got in Jason’s face for a full-blown spit in his face reprimand that Jason endured and then answered, “What microwave, sir?” before he was forced alongside everyone else to do one hundred mountain climbers, walk sits, and pushups. He regretted thinking the academy was all a good idea until the end of the day when the instructor held him back after class and said in a solemn voice, “If today is anything to go by, I’m expecting great things out of you, recruit. And I don’t mean here in the Academy but out in the field after you graduate. Out there you need to push the limits of your orders and in some cases defy them because those we swear to protect will definitely be willing to put any of us down at a moment's notice. But you didn’t hear that from me. That said, there better be a new microwave in that break room before breakfast.”

That night, Jason snuck off the academy grounds for an impromptu middle of the night run to a twenty-four-hour store with no one being the wiser. A new microwave awaited everyone the next day during lunch break. And Jason had not been caught leaving or returning to the academy grounds. The rest of the week was pretty much the same as the first couple of days. It wasn’t until the second week that classroom time was divided up with physical training and other things they had to learn to become competent police officers. About twenty percent of the recruits were gone before the end of week two since they couldn’t handle how demanding the course was. At the start of the third week, Jason had a new roommate. Derek Roberts. He was charming and in his mid-twenties; tall, bronzed skin, soft blue eyes, and very short, straight, dark brown hair. He’d introduced himself to Jason with a wide smile and firm handshake. And just happened to be one of two recruits that didn't give off a nervous air to him while in close proximity. He hadn’t gotten to know anyone else. He wasn’t trying to since he was still learning the ropes and had finally decided he was going to see the academy through. He had to admit it was a perfect cover. 

The academy gave recruits weekend passes to leave campus, which Jason took full advantage. He’d leave right after they were dismissed on Friday and return right before classes began again Monday morning. Though everyone noticed, no one brought it up. Not since Jason had pitched a microwave through a window. Everybody gave Jason a wide berth except the instructors. They were more prone to single him out and give him hell. But his academy instructors were nowhere near as intimidating as an angry Batman. And so Jason took everything in stride with full-blown grins that got everyone in trouble. Yet, no one except for a recruit by the name of Winters—Lindsay Winters to be exact—complained about it. She was 5' 7" had an athletic build with pale skin, alert brown eyes and long, curly, auburn hair that she kept tied back. She always seemed to glare at Jason whenever he caught her looking at him and though he gave her a blank stare, he knew he would never get along with her. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion. He didn’t know why really, she just always seemed angry at him and he couldn’t help it if his hackles rose in her presence.

Jason tended to keep to odd hours even with the strict academy schedule they were given. Starting at six in the morning until five in the evening. The cafeteria served dinner right after classes were over. Jason ate, usually with Derek, who knew that Jason wasn’t up for conversation after a tiring day. Afterwhich, he showered and crashed for a couple of hours sometimes longer. If he happened to wake up before Derek went to bed, they chatted or made their way to the common room together. Some of the recruits tended to take advantage of the grounds. Jason took to the roofs instead of standing around with other recruits while he snuck a cigarette or two. And so on a particular day that he happened to be squatting on the roof of the dorms, he saw Winters walking into the building. A couple of recruits, Nevin and Crespo, didn’t just stop at checking out her ass but had to fucking comment on it. Winters ignored them with a roll of her eyes. But Nevin was even bolder and actually went to grab it. Winters caught the movement from the corner of her eye and spun to face him, stopping him in his tracks. Her glare elicited a chuckle from both recruits.

Jason hadn’t waited for the entire scene to play out, he’d jumped down from the roof onto a tree and then waited for Winters to cuss the pair out before she stormed into the building. The two wolf-whistled and laughed at her even after she was gone until Jason dropped down from the tree in front of the pair. They both flinched and took a step back.

One was shorter than the other, and it seemed like Nevin was the one with the deranged brain cells that egged Crespo into conspiring with him in whatever the two got into. And this wasn’t the first time either of them fucked with the female recruits. There were only three in their class but ten females total on campus. But they didn’t stop at them, they fucked with anyone who was a little different. Gay, religious, poor, or of a different race. The fact that they were both white males with egos the size of Texas didn’t help their cases. Jason imagined Nevin was raised by bigots. Perhaps they were a product of their environments but it was Jason’s calling to give them a Red Hood experience without the fanfare of the name or helmet. 

“That was very amusing, dipshits,” Jason said and took the last puff of his cigarette before putting it out.

“Is this guy for real?” Crespo said taking a step forward suddenly feeling a little braver. He wasn’t going to let the crazy microwave throwing asshole intimidate him. 

“Maybe he’s her boyfriend,” Nevin teased with a snicker.

“Or I’m a guardian angel,” Jason said with a smirk making both recruits snort derisively. “Or I could be the devil incarnate. Which do you prefer?”

That got the attention of a few others within hearing range. Though they kept their distance as they watched the scene play out. 

Jason cracked his neck and began to pop his knuckles.

“What are you going to do?” Nevin said stalking forward. “Are you going to take us both on just to claim that pu—?”

Jason punched Nevin in the throat before he finished talking. Nevin clutched at his throat coughing and backing away. Jason stood his ground and relaxed his posture. If anyone was watching from the windows of the building they were standing in front of or the offices of nearby buildings, it would just look like Nevin had a coughing fit. Maybe it was their imagination that Jason had punched the guy in the throat just to shut him up. Because come on, who does that?

“What the fuck, man?” Crespo said lifting his hands up defensively. Then lowering them when he noticed the audience they had. 

“I don’t want to catch either of you treating _anyone_ the way you treated Winters,” Jason said lowering his voice taking a step forward making both of them take a step back.

“Come on, man, we were just fucking around,” Crespo said in irritation and forced a fake chuckle. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“It means you're a piece of trash that has no respect for others,” Jason said in a menacing tone pitched so only the two in front of him could hear while he glared at the other man. “She didn’t like it. I didn’t like it. I don’t want to see that again. You understand?”

“Yeah, sure, man,” Crespo said in a shaky voice that let Jason know he’d made the other man understand how dangerous he could be. And hopefully meant they wouldn’t act like assholes any time soon. 

Crespo grabbed Nevin’s arm to pull him away. He went around Jason’s reach and back into the building.

“What a fucking prick,” Nevin said as the door closed behind him.

“Shut the hell up, idiot,” Crespo told him as he kept dragging his friend along who was still clutching at his throat.

Jason just watched them go down the hall for a beat before he made his way inside the building as well. And the silence that had settled around him came to an abrupt end. He heard people resume conversations and started shuffling so that they were no longer facing in his direction. He hadn’t wanted to call attention to himself—more than he normally did. But he hoped that what he did would inspire others to speak up for one another. He rubbed a hand through his hair and realized he’d rather be on patrol. He’d been going out on weekends but he didn’t think it would be a good idea for the Red Hood to make an appearance in New York. So far he’d just worn a balaclava mask but he scared most of the people he was trying to save. At first, it was funny until he got kicked in the nuts. He just hadn’t expected such a violent reaction from a chick who’d he’d just saved from a mugging. And he hadn’t been out trying to stop petty crimes only wanting to get to know the area he was going to call home soon. But ever since before he put on the Robin suit, he had never been able to stand back and watch when he knew he could step in and help. And it wasn’t the first time his nuts were in danger, it was just the first time he’d forgotten that fear got the best of people and would make them lash out. And the chick had run off before Jason could tell her he wasn’t a threat. Not that he could’ve when he was groaning and in pain. But once he found his voice, he had to laugh and call himself an idiot. He needed a suit, but he wouldn’t wear his own. He had something completely different in mind. 

Jason pulled out his phone and dialed Tim’s phone number just as Derek walked into their room. He sighed inwardly. He thought he would be able to speak to Tim privately. If he would’ve known, he would have just texted instead.

“Hey, Jay,” Tim said half-asleep and yawned. 

“Hey, darling,” Jason said with a sly smile looking over at Derek and winking. Derek just chuckled under his breath and made his way to his bed. “I know it’s kind of late but I had to hear your voice.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the wake-up call. What do you want?”

“Oh, that’s what I love to hear, Tam-bear. So much love,” Jason said with a cocky chuckle. 

“Is someone listening?”

“You know I love you, babe,” Jason said and looked over at Derek who’d placed some earbuds in and even from where Jason was sitting, he could hear the music. 

“I take it that’s a yes. What was the point of calling then?” Tim said and yawned again. 

Jason let out an aggravated breath.

“Alright, he’s giving me some privacy for a sec. I’m going to text you what I need. Think you can come down this way this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure.” Tim yawned very loudly. Jason heard Tim’s neck pop. He grimaced. “No prob.”

“Great! See you then!”


	5. You are reading the fifth chapter

“Hutchings.”

Jason looked over his shoulder and saw Winters who was walking up behind him. He had just finished breakfast and was heading to class.

“Yeah,” Jason said turning around to face her fully. 

“I need to talk to you,” she said and then her mouth tightened into a fine line.

“Uh, sure,” Jason said and gestured for her to continue.

“Not here,” she said in annoyance and began to walk away towards an empty hallway. 

Jason sighed and told Derek, who was waiting a few steps away, to go on ahead. Once he was alone with Winters and out of earshot of anyone else, he asked her what was up. It was the end of the week and they had a day of testing to look forward to. Jason wanted the day to be over already because he had plans to meet up with Tim in the city. He had no idea what it was Winters wanted from him because last he checked, she had still been glaring at him every time she looked at him just like she was at the moment.

“Apparently, there are rumors that we’re an item,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Uh,” Jason said and looked around as if, somehow, she was talking to someone else. He pointed to her then to himself. “Us?”

“Yes,” Winters hissed in annoyance. “Are you saying you didn’t know anything about it?”

“It’s news to me,” Jason said with a shrug. He didn’t talk to anyone long enough to partake in any gossip. Except for Derek who never talked about anything else other than the curriculum or to ask about tips to get through the physical exercise without ending up with muscle cramps as had been the norm for him from day one. 

Winters let out an aggravated breath. “Liberty told me that all this started because you stood up for me or something. What did you do?”

Liberty was another of the females in their class. She stuck by Winters like white on rice. Winters didn't seem to like her much. But then again, she was sort of uptight with everyone. Jason rubbed the back of his head as he thought about what Winters had told him. Jason’s eyes widened. He remembered seeing Liberty outside with Garcia during that little incident he'd had with Nevin and Crespo a few days back. 

“Nothing really,” Jason said after a beat and shrugged.

“Well, it must’ve been something for these rumors to start circulating.”

“Does it really matter? It’s not anything I wouldn’t do for anyone else.”

“I don’t need you to defend me. I can take care of myself.”

“Obviously,” he said easily and meant it. The girl was tough. He’d taken notice of that since day one when everyone else was struggling far more than the two of them with the rigorous physical discipline they were subjected to. 

“What does that mean?” she said angrily taking a step forward. 

She was looking for a fight. Wasn’t she? Jason’s hackles rose but he took a breath to calm himself down. Then counted to five in his head for good measure without taking his eyes off Winters. Who knew? She might punch him in the nuts or something. He stuffed one of his hands in his pocket to protect the family jewels just in case. 

“Look, you’re taking what I said the wrong way.” Jason took a step to the side making sure to keep his groin out of her arm’s reach. He knew she was thinking about it when he saw her fisted hand twitched. “I’m trying really hard to be patient with you. But you’re making it difficult.”

“_I’m_ annoying _you_?”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Taking his eyes off her for a moment. Her voice had pitched up a decibel from tolerable to highly annoying. What could he say to get her to back off? Whatever she was upset about was not even important. Nor realistic. As if either of them would be caught dead in the arms of the other unless they were beating the shit out of one another. What the hell was her problem with him anyway? As far as he knew, he’d done jack shit to her. Fuck. He needed to think about how to calm her down not how frustrating she was. 

The rumor. Right. Not important. Tell her. 

“Winters, forget about the fucking rumors. They’re obviously not true and they’ll die down soon.”

“I want to know what you did.”

Yeah, Jason could answer that. Not a big fucking deal. 

“I told Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum to cut their shit,” Jason said with a shrug. 

Winters’ eyes narrowed.

“Why take a personal interest in me?”

“It wasn’t about you,” Jason said and stuffed his other hand in his pocket just in case he felt the urge to want to shut her up the way he had with Nevins. Then took another step to the side creating a bigger distance between them. But Winters took a step towards him. He sighed audibly and her eyes narrowed to slits. 

“Look, you probably don’t know this because you’re a fucking guy and everything just comes easy for you.” 

Jason’s eyebrow rose in interest but he didn’t interrupt her even though what she said was far from true. Nothing had ever come easy for him. His entire life had been one hardship after another. Yeah, sure he’d had a small reprieve when Batman with billions of dollars as his superpower took him in but that just led to more trouble for him, hadn’t it? 

“But I worked my ass off for months getting ready for this academy so that I didn’t look like…..well, a female,” Winters said and avoided his gaze showing him how difficult admitting that had been for her. 

Jason gaped at her in surprise. Was that truly her problem with him then? That he was a guy and she was a fucking female? He wasn’t the only guy at the academy. They were the majority. Why had she focused on him? He forced himself to school his features before she noticed his expression and got further offended. She turned to look at him again with a furrowed brow and a steely gaze. 

“Being a female in a male-dominated profession is hard and it’s even harder when you have to prove yourself physically to men. So to have you defend my honor or whatever it was you were doing because you see me as the weaker sex—”

“That was not what I was doing at all!” Jason said quickly to cut her off. But she was not having that and talked right over him.

“—you put a fucking target on my back as the little female who needs a knight in shining armor!”

“Goddammit, Winters, I’m not the bad guy here!”

She let out a long breath through her nose trying to reign in her anger. She couldn’t thank him for obvious reasons or blame him for what he did because it was obvious that he’d been clueless about what he’d actually done. But she had to let him know that he wasn’t doing anyone any favors by trying to be a hero. Especially where one wasn’t needed. Nothing had happened and she’d defended herself just fine. Or at least she thought she had. But the rumors, it wasn’t about them dating. They were saying he wanted to fuck her and was just trying to score some points to accomplish his goal. And if that was even just a little true, she needed him to know she was not interested in him. Not in his good deeds or in him personally. They were colleagues and that was all. She was not a woman and he wasn’t a man while in the academy. Even though a small part of her couldn’t help notice he was a very attractive man. But she wasn’t here to date. There wasn’t any time for that at all. The academy itself was rigorous enough to be dealing with any high school shit like dating or whatever the rumors had been about. 

“Just remember, Hutchings, I can handle myself,” Winters said and stalked off.

“Ah, sure,” Jason said with a nod. He blew out an aggravated breath once she had cleared the corner and was out of sight. “Fuck.”

As Jason walked towards the classroom, already a minute late having stayed behind a few minutes after Winters had left, he couldn’t help thinking over the conversation and shaking his head in amusement. What had he been thinking? Of course, he was the bad guy. He was the fucking Red Hood infiltrating a police academy under an assumed name. Heh. So, who gave a fuck what Winters had up her ass or if Nevins wanted to start rumors about the two of them? Winters might have a nice ass but she could kick Nevins’ ass to next week. Jason didn’t have to do a fucking thing to remedy this fucked up situation. There were no good deeds that went unpunished. Jason already knew that but the universe had a funny way of reminding him time and time again how true that was. However, it was time to remind himself who he was and give his fellow mates a little treat into the inner workings of J. Sam Hutchings; aka Jason Peter Todd, aka Red Hood.

“Nice of you to join us, Hutchings,” the instructor said in a gruff voice. “I wonder what you thought was more important than showing up to class on time on testing day.”

“Well, Sarge,” Jason said with a smirk and he heard a few groans from his classmates. They could already guess that the next words coming out of his mouth were going to be full of snark. “I just got to thinking that this is barely the end of the third week and we still have five long months to go surrounded by dicks and not being able to do a damn thing about it.”

Jason heard a few snickers and the instructor turned to glare at a couple of cadets but he was giving Jason time to finish his little monologue. Interesting that.

“And remembering Nevins’ petite tight ass in the shower this morning, I just had to take a few minutes to tug one out.” Jason was looking right at Nevins who had a horrified look in his eyes. 

_That’ll teach that fucker to start any more rumors about me._

Some of the guys began to tease Nevins and others were gagging exaggeratedly.

The instructor whistled loudly garnering everyone’s attention.

“If you have time to think about anything other than the curriculum, it makes me think we’ve been going much too easy on all of you. Starting next week, we’re taking it up a notch but for now, on your feet cadets!”

“Sir, yes sir!” the entire class said in unison as they stood up. By then Jason had reached his desk and he could feel Winters boring a hole with her glare at the back of his neck. 

No good deeds go unpunished. Heh. He was always up for a little punishment. Especially now that he was getting a little soft around the edges. It was time to remedy that. He turned to wink Winters and all she could do was lift her chin before she turned an icy glare at Nevins. 

_Oh, what a beautiful sight._ Jason thought of that glare. Now she knew who started the rumor. He turned around and grinned at the instructor. She could take care of herself. It was time she lived up to those words. He’d done his part twice. The first time for her and everyone else who was being heckled by Nevins. But this, it was a selfish move. He knew it and didn’t give a fuck. 

“Drop and give me eighty! You can all thank Hutchings for this later.”

Jason dropped down catching himself in the last second before pushing himself back up. He was moving in unison with everyone else. The only difference was that he was sporting a wide grin. Because this was nothing compared to the training he’d gone through, not with Bruce, but under the tutelage of the many hard-ass instructors Talia had supplied him. Even still, he knew that by the end of the day, he would be hurting just as much as everyone else. And it was just fine by him. 

“You find this amusing, Hutchings?”

“No, sir!” Jason said forcing the words out. “I just can’t help imagining…” he took a breath, “Nevins’ body under mine!”

“Fuck you!” Nevins said and then lost his footing falling on his face. 

“That’s the idea!” Jason said through a huff of a laugh. 

“That’s enough!” the instructor bellowed. “All of you on your feet!”

“Sir, yes sir!” everyone said in unison. 

“Nevins and Hutchins outside running laps! I don’t want you to come back until you’re too tired to do anything but follow orders! Understood?!”

“Sir, yes sir!” Jason and Nevins said. 

Jason was the first to run out of the classroom. Nevins following at a slower pace. 

After a lap, Jason noticed the entire class outside. The instructor was watching them run. Jason kicked it up a gear with a wide grin. Maybe. Just maybe. He’d fucked up a little more than he wanted to. What could he do about it now? Hopefully, he wouldn’t get kicked out for being a smart ass. After the second lap, Winters ran onto the track. Keeping pace with him. Derek followed on her heels and so did the others until the entire class was running with them. 

Jason was taken aback and when he saw the instructor on his next turn around the track, he saw the proud look on the man’s face. Jason didn’t know what to think. But he slowed down so that he was running with everyone else instead of on his own like he’d set out to do. Though, that hadn’t been what had been drilled into them from day one. They were supposed to move together. But it was something that was ordered of them. This moment had been a choice. No one had forced it on any of them. And somehow, this felt right. A tiny knot formed in his throat. He cleared it and concentrated on his breathing. Winters was on his right. Derek was on his left. _We’ve got your back_ they were saying with their actions. _You’re not alone_ the entire class was telling him as they synchronized their steps. _I’m sorry for being a douche._ That had been Nevins. He’d actually said that aloud. Jason chuckled. 

“All good now, Hutchings?” Garcia, their current class rep, asked. 

“Yep!” 

“Nevins?”

“Yes,” he answered begrudgingly then grunted when someone smacked him on the head. He let out a loud huff. “I said yes. And I meant it.”

When they passed up the instructor once more, Garcia said loudly, “We’re ready for testing now, Sarge!”

“About time! Get your asses back in the classroom!”

“Sir, yes sir!” they said together. And as one, they ran off the track slowing down to a march until they were right back in the classroom standing beside their respective seats. 

“Get your asses in your seats and your pencils out!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

Jason was no longer grinning. But he felt satisfied. He’d accomplished something today. Though not on his own. And all it did was make him want to go out there and bust a few heads to get the point across to a few more people. Because sometimes good things came about from being a little selfish. From being more Red Hood than Jason. And that was really something to behold. 


	6. You are reading the sixth chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting three more chapters this month. But I'll go back to posting a chapter every other week after that.

Jason couldn’t get out of having dinner with the other recruits after testing on Friday. It seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him. But it wasn’t that he was suddenly well-liked. There were still a few that were wary of his temper. Of what he’d showed them of himself anyway. They still hadn’t seen Jason angry. No one had given him a reason to be. Not even Winters. She was only annoying at best and frustrating at worse. It was just as Garcia had told him; the others hadn’t gotten to know him yet and were curious about him. And they asked a lot of questions. Mostly what they already knew about everyone else. Though that was mostly indirectly since they all had their little groups or were friends in pairs. But gossip spread easily. And all they knew of Jason was what Derek had told them. He was from Gotham and had a girl he talked to often. Jason laughed at that. That girl wasn’t a girl. It was Tim; a contact for vigilante business but family for personal business. Not that they had much personal business going on between them. 

Even still, Jason couldn’t help think of Tim as his family. Bruce too but only begrudgingly so. And then there was Alfred that Tim mentioned in passing and Jason smiled every time the butler was brought up in a text. Not that Tim knew, of course. And Jason was careful not to ask about either man. He didn’t want to get pulled into that. He wasn’t ready for it yet. And thought that perhaps Bruce and Alfred didn’t even think of him as family anymore. Especially not after what happened. The showdown between him and Bruce. Tim didn’t have anything to do with any of that and never brought it up. It made Jason’s acceptance of Tim in his life a lot easier. 

As far as his academy mates went, he didn’t try to correct their perception of Tammy-bear as they all decided to call Tim to tease Jason further about his girl. Jason didn’t mind one bit. It was a good excuse as any to leave campus on weekends and be on the phone in the evenings. Not to mention excuse himself from their conversation and the impromptu hang-out that evening to take a call and leave for the weekend to meet up with his so-called girlfriend.

As Jason made his way towards the city, he found out that Tim was not available to meet up with him. The kid was pulled into action due to an Arkham outbreak. Batman wanted the situation contained as fast as possible. It was all hands on deck according to Tim. Jason didn’t ask who else was involved, he didn’t rightly care. Not as long as he received his package. And according to Tim, it would arrive that night via messenger at the apartment that Jason was using whenever he patrolled New York on the weekends. 

The apartment belonged to Tim and he’d given Jason a spare key. Tim hardly used the place unless he was on a mission with the Titans within the city or had to make an appearance for either Wayne Enterprises or Drake Industries for a meeting or what have you. Jason didn’t care about the specifics and wasn’t all that comfortable using Tim’s place. But it had its merits. Like not creating a paper trail of the Red Hood’s resources down to New York. Which included keeping the Red Hood out of the Big Apple. His current plan would definitely kill two birds with one stone. If you’re splitting hairs that is. 

Jason was making himself something to eat when the doorbell to the apartment rang. He wiped his hands and walked over to the door feeling a little annoyed. He’d been waiting for Tim’s messenger for a couple of hours and just when he decided to kill time preparing a meal, whoever it was showed up. Typical.

“I’m looking for Sam,” Cassie Sandsmark aka Wondergirl—fucking Wondergirl—was standing in the entryway holding a case that Jason knew was for him. 

When Tim said he was sending a messenger, Jason assumed a bonified messenger person from a company, not fucking Wondergirl.

“I am Sam,” Jason said a hand on his chest and a playful smile on his lips. He gestured for the girl to enter since she was looking past him into the apartment. 

“Uh, no. You can’t be Sam,” Cassie said walking into the entryway and shaking her head a little.

Jason closed the door and looked at her with a small frown. What had she said? Did she know who he really was? He mentally shook his head. He doubted it. He hadn’t met her during his Robin days. Back then it was Donna that was on the Titan's team. He idly wondered what happened to Donna before he decided he didn’t rightly care. Well, not at the moment. 

Cassie looked around again making sure she was in the right apartment. It was definitely Tim’s place so she was certain that she was in the right location. But she thought she’d be meeting Tim’s girlfriend, Sam. Not some hot blond guy who looked vaguely familiar. 

There was no way Oracle had lied about Sam being Tim’s girlfriend. She’d said it as a tease and Tim had blushed when the entire team heard what she said, which only confirmed that what she’d said was true. Right? But girlfriend meant a girl, a female, a woman, not a hot ass dude!

“I _am_ Sam. Sam I am,” Jason said with a smirk. Cassie rolled her eyes. “Tim sent a messenger. You’re the messenger.” Jason gestured to the case she was holding. “And I believe that’s mine.”

“No, it’s not,” Cassie said and pulled the case behind her when Jason reached for it. She pulled out her phone to call Tim on speaker to find out what was going on and if she had to beat the hot guy up for breaking and entering.

_“I’m a little busy right now,”_ Tim said distractedly answering before either Jason or Cassie heard a ring. Both Jason and Cassie heard a couple of grunts and then the release of a grappling line. They waited patiently for him to speak again while they both pointedly avoided making eye contact with one another. _“Did you get the case to Sam?”_

“I would if Sam were _here_,” Cassie said in annoyance.

“Hey, Blondie.” Jason snapped his fingers at her. Cassie shot him an annoyed glare. “Are you fucking kidding right now? I told you, I’m Sam. Do I need to show you my ID? Was there some fucking form I was supposed to sign? Because I don't see a motherfucking clipboard.”

They both heard Tim groan and quieted when they heard a voice from afar. Probably Bat Girl. _“Give me a sec,”_ Tim said away from the receiver. Then they both heard an annoyed deep baritone say, _“This isn't the time to be talking to your girlfriend. Hang up. We have more work to do.”_ Tim sighed heavily. _“It’s just Cassie! Jeez! And I still need to inform Oracle about the lot I just finished apprehending like five seconds ago. Go on ahead. I’ll catch up before you plan our next move.”_

“Are you listening, Blondie? Because of you, Tim will probably die of premature heart disease since you’re causing him unnecessary hypertension.”

“Oh, stop exaggerating, you damn drama queen. And stop calling me Blondie. My name is _Cassie_. Who the hell are _you_?”

“I am fucking Sam! Sam, I fucking am!” Jason said exasperatedly throwing his hands in the air. He couldn’t have said it any clearer before or now. “So give me my shit, witless girl!”

“_Both of you, shut up!_” Tim said in frustration. He didn’t have time to deal with their idiocy. And he should’ve known better than to send Cassie. But she was the one to offer to go in his stead. He was belatedly realizing that it was just because she wanted to meet Sam. Yet, she’d been expecting someone else. Fuck his life. Not even his own best friend believed him when he told her that Oracle was speaking from false assumptions that he’d put into motion for reasons no one needed to know. “_Cassie that’s Sam. Okay? All's good. I gotta go before someone has a stroke. And it ain’t gonna be me._”

The line disconnected and Cassie stared at the phone mouth agape.

“Told ya,” Jason said smugly and sidestepped Cassie to grab the case out of her hands. “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

“You can’t be Sam,” Cassie said stubbornly in a small voice.

Jason looked at her over his shoulder. “I thought Tim settled this already.”

“But,” Cassie said and looked at him with her head tilted to his side. She blew out a breath. “Everybody thinks Sam is his girlfriend. And you’re clearly a guy.”

“What, a guy can’t be a girlfriend?” Jason said with an amused lopsided grin not even bothering to look at her as he walked further into the apartment.

“Wait, are you saying you and Tim are...together?” Cassie said as she trailed after him. 

“Look, I don’t owe you any explanations. And besides, what’s wrong with two guys dating? Are you some sort of homophobe?”

“What?! NO!!” Cassie said in horror and stopping in her tracks. She took a breath to calm herself and followed Jason into the kitchen. 

Jason had gone right back to fixing his meal.

“No, I don’t have any problems with that. I just have the worst gay-dar and didn’t know Tim was…”

“Into guys?” Jason said with a tilt of his head without looking at Cassie. “You think he is? Well, whatever. Not my problem.”

“You just said!”

“Nuh-uh,” Jason said looking over his shoulder with a small smile. “You assumed. And you know what they say when you assume?”

“No,” Cassie said slowly feeling more than a little annoyed with Sam at the moment.

“You make an ass out of _u_ and _me_,” Jason said with a small chuckle. 

Cassie groaned and let her head fall onto the counter where she’d taken a seat. This guy was so weird. Why the hell did Tim think he was funny?

Jason started to plate his food. “You hungry? There should be enough for you.”

“No,” Cassie said with a small shake of her head. Her head still plastered to the counter. She’d come to meet Tim’s girlfriend not whoever this guy was—who definitely wasn’t with Tim but was so fucking hot. She couldn’t think about that. Things between her and Tim were complicated enough without her thinking about his friend like this. Besides, the guy was weird. And mildly annoying. Okay, she was good. 

“Suit yourself,” Jason said and started to eat while leaning on the counter facing the island where Cassie had made herself comfortable.

“Why would he let everyone think you were his girlfriend?” Cassie asked lifting her head and holding it up on a fist and leaning heavily on the counter on her elbow. “I mean, he just groans and walks away whenever anyone teases him about you. He just makes everybody think it's true.”

“Are you sure he allows everyone to think that?” Jason said as he studied the girl before him. “Maybe he’s just tired of correcting people and figured it’s easier to let the issue resolve on its own.”

“Well, what is your relationship with him? Who are you anyway?” Cassie just couldn’t place his face. And his name was definitely not one she recognized. Yet, she thought she knew him from somewhere. 

“I don’t think that’s any of your business. And you already know my name,” Jason said pointing at her with his fork. Then continued to eat. 

“Come on, he just met you like a couple of months ago and nobody makes him laugh the way you do. So what is it? You’re just friends? Friends with benefits? What?”

“Shouldn’t you be asking him?” Jason said taking another bite of food. “Why would you believe anything I had to say?”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but he doesn’t open up as much as he used to. Not since…” She shook her head. “Nevermind.”

“Sounds like you two had something going on and it ended badly… or something?”

“No, just...we’re friends.”

“But not as close as before you two did the horizontal tango.”

Cassie blew out a breath. “You’re so weird.”

“Yet, you’re still here. Talking to me. Doesn’t that make you weird too?” Jason said with a shrug. He finished his food and put the leftovers away before he began to wash his dishes. “Want a beer?”

“Dude! I’m not even twenty-one yet! And what? Are you trying to get me drunk or something?”

“Seriously?” Jason said looking at her with a small frown. “One beer won’t get you drunk. And not that it’s any of your business but I’m not exactly twenty-one either. Then there’s the fact that you came inside all on your own.” He pointed in the direction of the door as he got a couple of beers out of the fridge and made his way to the living room. “You know your way out.”

“Did you just kick me out?”

“Yeah,” Jason said letting himself drop onto the couch. He left a bottle of beer on the coffee table and opened the other. “That’s twice now. And you’re still here. Are you sure _you’re_ not trying to get _me_ drunk?”

“Oh, please,” Cassie said with a roll of her eyes. She grabbed a non-alcoholic drink from the fridge and some chips from the pantry and went to sit beside Jason on the couch.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “By all means, make yourself at home.”

“Don’t mind if I do," she said smugly. "Besides, Tim said he was coming down tomorrow. I’m waiting for him.”

“Wonderful,” Jason said sarcastically and chose an x-rated movie on pay per view just to make Cassie uncomfortable. He hadn’t exactly paid for it, they were just watching the preview. 

“Oh, look! A bunch of girls with big boobs! Just like back home!”

Jason groaned. The last thing he needed to be thinking about was a bunch of Amazons bathing together. Because that was where she was from, right? Fuck. Too late. He threw the remote at Cassie’s head in annoyance. She caught it easily and laughed while simultaneously changing the channel. 

Jason finished both his beers quickly and got up. He threw the bottles away and grabbed the case. Then he went to the bedroom to look over what Tim had sent. He threw a glare at the closed door. He did not want Cassie to be in the apartment. But there wasn’t anything he could do about that, short of kicking her out. Which he’d already done. That didn’t get him anywhere. Not that he was being exactly forceful with the issue either. And he didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of being forceful with her. Or to make Tim even more upset because of that girl. Though that hadn’t exactly been Jason’s fault. He threw another glare at the door. Why had Tim sent her when he was coming down the next day anyway? Whatever. Jason shrugged and opened the case. Then he grinned. 


	7. You are reading the seventh chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a time-skip but it's only for this chapter. The following chapter will bring us right back to Tim's apartment building.

** _Three months later…_ **

Nightwing was standing on a rooftop sporting a wide grin. He had his escrima sticks in his hands but they were resting against his thighs as he caught his breath. He was elated! Yeah. That was the word. Elated. Good word. He’d successfully stopped a kidnapping. And yeah, he probably created a pile-up and perhaps accidentally on purpose blew up a trash can in the underground subway station in order to evacuate it quickly. But... he’d stopped the fucking kidnapping of an eight-year-old girl. The last time he saw her she was sobbing uncontrollably in her mama’s arms. Said mom even thanked him over and over while happy tears streamed down her face. And he didn’t even kill one person. Not a one. The kidnappers were on their way to jail. Cops were getting the crowds under control. And people were shouting his name. Well, not his given name. But Nightwing’s name. 

Nightwing had saved an eight-year-old. During a lunch rush. From two thugs that scared a busload of people just to drag the little girl away from the mother. A mother who was willing to give her life for her child. However, the armed thugs were not only threating the mom but everyone on the bus. And the little girl—a hero in her own right—told her mom she was brave and strong. She stood up to her would-be kidnappers to save the people on the bus. One of the passengers had been secretly filming and airing the entire situation live on Chirper. 

The thugs dragged the little girl out by her hair and into the subway station. Nightwing ambushed them using a teeny-tiny bomb in a trash can in order to get rid of the extra persons at the station. In the chaos that ensued, he went for the little girl. Using his escrima stick he pelted it over the thug's wrist so that he would release his grip on the little girl's hair. He successfully separated the little girl from the thugs without much fanfare. He left her with a police officer who rushed into the station after getting a call about a bomb going off in the station. Then Nightwing chased down the thugs into the streets. They ran for a couple of blocks. People—normal citizens—who were abreast of the situation blocked the thugs from entering buildings, alleyways, and forced them to only move in one direction. News choppers were following closely. Police were trying to come on the scene but could only do so on foot. Everything happened so fast. One of the thugs was hit by a car. Nightwing managed to avoid being hit himself. The thug survived the collision with a sprained knee and a concussion. Or so Nightwing heard the officer say on his radio to dispatch after he cuffed the thug and read him his rights. The other thug was taken down by Nightwing after a short fight.

Now social media was going crazy. Nightwing whose sightings had been reported but never confirmed by journalists with proper evidence—i.e. photos—was finally seen out in the open. In broad daylight. Someone even posted a picture of his ass on Chirper and it was trending. Nightwing chuckled. 

“Nightwing,” said a voice from above.

Nightwing got in a defensive stance. He raised his escrima sticks and looked up. He couldn’t believe someone had snuck up on him on a rooftop of all things. As he raised his hand to cover the glare of the sun, he saw who was floating above him and lowering slowly. The Big Guy in red and blue. Nightwing gaped openly. And a nervous flutter of butterflies assaulted his very toned belly.

“Superman?”

“I’d heard some rumors. But I had to come see for myself,” Superman said with a small smile. He landed softly and walked forward to place a hand on Nightwing’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you again, Nightwing.”

“Uh, yeah. Good to see you too,” Nightwing said putting away his escrima sticks. He took a step back and then another. Slowly. Carefully. Superman watched him curiously. “Is everything alright? I mean, what’s...up?”

He would have laughed nervously but he was trying really hard not to show his hand. 

“After all those rumors that you’d switched sides…” Superman trailed off and then took notice of the nervousness Nightwing was trying to hide. He watched Nightwing carefully as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He activated his x-ray vision to see the face behind the mask. With or without the mask, the man before him looked like Nightwing. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Narrow nose. Angular chin. But there was something slightly off. This man was not Dick Grayson. And Superman sensed a trace of magic at play that hid Nightwing’s true identity. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Who are you?”

“Hey! No peeking!” Nightwing said when he realized that Superman was using his super see-thru alien vision on him. He automatically covered the parts that identified him as a human male because he was a little shit like that. 

Seeing what Nightwing did gave Superman pause and stirred a memory. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“Jason Todd?!”

“Ah, fuck!” Nightwing said and covered his mouth at the faux pas. It didn’t take more than a split second for him to drop his hand when he decided that he didn’t care whether or not his bad language offended Superman or not. “How’d you know it was me? I thought you were weak to magic.”

“I am. But you were always quick with the inappropriate jokes,” Superman said with a small smile.

“_That’s_ what you remember about me?” Jason said rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He looked away feeling out of place suddenly. “And sorry that I’m not the person you were,” he cleared his throat, “wanting to see.”

“Jason,” Superman said taking a step forward and reaching out to the young man.

Jason froze. He was very aware that he couldn’t outrun Superman but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t try. But as Superman’s hand grasped his shoulder—_his_ shoulder. Not Nightwing’s. Not Dick Grayson’s. But _his_—he stayed rooted in his spot. Then Superman did something even more surprising. He drew Jason into a hug. 

Superman was fucking hugging him. Jason went limp for a moment as emotions that he wasn’t aware still existed in his post-mortem life came alive and fought for control. Jason swallowed a lump of tears that were threatening to explode out of him. No one had held him like this since he came back to life. Other than Talia. But that didn’t count. She was confusing and he didn’t like to think about her. Or that. Her touches were nothing like this. Superman’s touch was a fatherly sort of hug that he never thought he’d ever feel again. Then anger took over because what right did Superman have to touch his person and to make him feel like this. Superman was not his dad. Had never been his dad. And never cared about him the way he cared about the Golden Boy. 

Jason pushed Superman away and the bigger, stronger man allowed it. 

“I’m very happy to see you...alive,” Superman said and swallowed hard. 

Whatever emotion had taken over the alien was very clear in Superman’s eyes. But Jason’s instinct told him not to believe what he saw. History. Past actions and words towards him by Big Blue were to be taken into account. Were the current words and actions of Superman a ploy to lower his guard? Even if they weren’t, Jason couldn’t be so gullible to just take Superman at face value. Maybe what was said was true but in a more general sense. As in, I’m glad to see you as a person but not necessarily you personally alive because I’m Superman and my goal is to save as many lives as possible. That was more believable. And Jason couldn’t help but scoff. 

“Yeah, right,” Jason said with a small shake of his head. If Superman knew what he’d done... That he was the Red Hood. He wouldn’t be very happy and would snatch his ass up and lock him away.

“I’m aware that you were the Red Hood,” Superman told him in a serious tone. 

Superman didn’t feel offended by Jason’s lack of trust. They had never been close. And Batman’s fears of Jason being too rough with criminals out on the field when he was still Robin was a sentiment that Superman shared. When he heard the rumors of who Red Hood was, it saddened him but truthfully, it wasn’t a big surprise. The fact that Jason was alive was shocking, to say the least. Though not the part where he took the law into his own hands. It would’ve happened sooner had the Joker not… Superman didn’t want to think about that. And it wasn’t his place to judge the young man before him. Especially not when said young man had once more become a hero of note. 

Jason chuckled without humor. “You’re a mind reader now too?”

Superman raised his hands in mock surrender. “I can honestly say that that is not one of my alien superpowers.” 

Jason grinned stupidly. Superman was joking with him, wasn’t he? Jason always referred to him as an alien back before...yeah, the death thing. An alien with super-alien-powers. And of course, Superman overheard him because super-alien-powers included super-alien-hearing. Then Jason sobered up and shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“But I am a very good investigative reporter. Even Batman can’t keep all his secrets from me.”

“So, what now? You take me in front of the Justice League for a trial and lock me up?” Jason told him in a resentful tone. 

Superman sighed tiredly and looked out over the city.

“Gotham is out of my jurisdiction,” Superman said and after a beat, turned back around to look at Jason with a serious expression. “Batman was very explicit about that. No one from the Justice League—myself included—is to interfere with happenings in Gotham City _unless_ Batman asks us to help. He was very clear that when he said help it didn’t mean to take over command or hand down a sentence. So, whatever happens in Gotham…”

Jason barked out a laugh. 

“You gotta be shitting me?” Jason laughed again. “I get a free pass because he’s so fucking controlling about,” he lowered his voice, “his city?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a free pass,” Superman said sternly. “Jason, Batman is keeping the Red Hood’s identity close to the vest. But Joker is telling anyone who will listen that the second birdie came back from the grave as the Red Hood. There are only a few of us in the Justice League who knew your private identity. And they’ve been asking questions. Batman isn’t answering them. And I can only feign ignorance for so long. I would like your permission to let those who mourned you know that the late Robin is back among the living. There are others who would be happy to hear the news.”

Jason shrugged. He wasn’t sure what to say to that. And frankly, he didn’t really believe Superman. Even though the man wasn’t known to lie, Jason didn’t think he was very attuned to how others felt. Especially not about him.

“I’ll let them know to respect your privacy. I don’t have to tell them where you are or what you’re up to,” Superman said gesturing to the Nightwing costume. “I don’t even have to confirm the Joker’s rumors about you being the Red Hood. I’ll leave that to Batman’s discretion.”

Jason nodded still feeling at a loss for words but grateful to hear that Superman wasn’t going to out him as Nightwing. It would defeat the purpose of Jason’s scheming if he did. And he was starting to see Superman differently. Maybe, just maybe, Jason had been too harsh on his earlier assessment of the man before him. 

“I do have to tell you though—since I am aware of your past activities in Gotham—that I’m going to keep an eye on you.”

And wasn’t that a kicker? Just when Jason was letting down his guard. He mentally rolled his eyes. Superman couldn’t keep his eyes on Jason at all times. Besides the fact that he probably wasn't aware of his assumed identity or the fact that he was in the police academy under said assumed identity. But those words at least sounded like something Jason had expected Superman to say to him. He would listen carefully wanting to know Superman’s newfound decree on his person and then he'd decide after he’d heard Superman’s piece whether or not he would oblige.

“As I said before, I won’t take you in due to an agreement with Batman for past wrongdoings but if you revert back to that behavior, I can’t in good conscience step back and not do anything about it. I would have to hold you responsible for any violations within my jurisdiction from today forward. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” Jason said with a little smirk. He could definitely agree to that. But that didn’t mean that if given the opportunity and or the reason to off someone he wouldn’t do so just to appease the fucking Justice League. There were some monsters that didn’t deserve to draw breath. But now he knew to be extra careful not to be caught red-handed or stupid enough to leave any evidence behind. What the Justice League couldn’t prove they also couldn’t penalize. Heh.

“You’re doing good work here, Jason,” Superman said with a nod of approval. Then he looked around once more. The sound of a phone camera shutter had caught his attention. His eyes narrowed at someone a few buildings over. Jason didn’t know what Superman was looking at since his vision or hearing wasn’t on par with that of a super alien. “It’s good to hear Nightwing’s name again.”

“Even though it’s not your precious Dickiebird in the costume?” Jason said with a slight frown. He didn’t know where that thought had come from but it was true nonetheless.

“You may not have realized how precious a Jaybird is to me, yet. Especially while in Nightwing colors,” Superman said and smiled when he noticed a small blush creep up on Jason’s face.

Jason grunted and looked away. Superman did the same—look away that is—but only because he could hear what was happening around them.

“Tell me something,” Superman said turning to face Jason once more. “Why _are_ you in Nightwing’s uniform?”

“Uh,” Jason said having been caught off guard by the question and then chuckled. “Yeah, that’s a long story.”

“I have time,” Superman said and floated up. “Would you like to go somewhere a little less conspicuous?” 

Jason looked around and realized that they were being watched. A news chopper that could now be heard by him was coming closer and residents in the buildings surrounding them were in a frenzy. They were sticking their heads out of windows—phones in hand—or stepping onto their fire escapes to watch and record them.

“All it takes is one chirp then everyone comes out of the woodwork,” Superman said and stretched out a hand. 

Jason nodded in agreement and took the offered hand. Superman clasped Jason’s forearm and gently pulled him up and away from prying eyes. It didn’t take long before they were on the other side of the city on a higher rooftop where they would have some privacy.

“From Robin to the Red Hood and now Nightwing. Tell me, Jason, how did you make the leap from one to the other?”

“No offense, but you sound like a fucking nosey reporter.”

Superman cleared his throat, stifling a chuckle. “I’ve been accused of worse. And well, it’s not really offensive if it’s my profession.”

“True,” Jason said with a slight shrug. “But I hate reporters.”

Superman chuckled. “I hear that a lot. It comes with the job but there are no extra incentives for it.”

“I hear you,” Jason said with a smirk and sat on the roof, cross-legged. 

Superman opted to lean against the staircase enclosure wall. The roof access door was just around the corner.

“Everything I say is off the record,” Jason joked. Obviously, everything they had said to each other was off the record. It was Clark Kent who was the reporter, not Superman. However, Superman smiled to show he agreed and understood that everything he heard should stay between the two of them. And strictly interpreted as 'do not tell Batman'.

“This,” Jason gestured to the suit and his appearance, “all started when my replacement asked me to help him find Big Bird.”

Superman nodded in understanding and Jason continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will post on or about the 31st


	8. You are reading the eighth chapter

** _Three months earlier..._ **

Slam!

Jason had walked out of Tim’s apartment and made his way towards the elevator. He had the case in one hand and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“You’re leaving?” Cassie said from the doorway. She had rushed out to catch up to Sam wanting to know what was going on. He hadn’t said anything to her. He just strutted out of the bedroom and out the door.

Jason stopped and turned around.

“Well, _you’re_ not leaving,” Jason said pointing at her. “Even after I kicked you out and everything.”

Cassie huffed in annoyance. She didn’t mean to make Sam leave. She just really wanted to wait for Tim to return. They had a lot to talk about. Especially now that she knew he didn’t have a girlfriend.

“You’re jailbait,” Jason told her. “I’m legally an adult.” Of course, technically, he was only seventeen going on eighteen in a few months' time but no one knew that. Sam had just turned eighteen before the police academy commenced. In Jason’s eyes, they were essentially the same age. “If I stay here tonight, your parents can haul my ass off to jail. And I have future plans that don’t involve a dick in my ass or a lifelong record as a sex offender.”

“Okay,” she said slowly and muttered about how weird he was. “Have it your way.” She went inside and shut the door. 

Jason thought Cassie was the weird one. But she didn’t matter enough to think about her more than that. He had to go...somewhere. He just couldn’t stay there. Cause what he told her was true. The last thing he wanted was to get in trouble for something as stupid as staying under the same roof as an unaccompanied minor. 

“Leaving for the night?” the night watchman asked just as Jason was passing up his desk. 

His name was Luke. Jason talked to the guy a little whenever he was in town. He was young and clean cut. Possibly mid-twenties. He was not too shy to say he got the job through nepotism and needed the extra money to pay for the student loans he’d been drowning in. He was a pencil pusher during weekdays and only did the nightwatchman gig on the weekends. But his true calling was acting. He just hadn’t gotten a lucky break yet. 

“Yeah, for the rest of the weekend. My little brother’s girl showed up and won’t leave,” Jason said. Always better to have corroborating witnesses. He’d learned a few things at the police academy about due process. “Know any good places to stay? Preferably on the cheaper side.”

“Not on this side of town,” Luke said with an apologetic expression. 

Jason shrugged. “I’m not a this-side-of-town kind of guy.” 

Upper East Side New York was more Richie Rich Tim Drake’s cup of tea. Jason had been a street rat once upon a time. He knew how to blend in with posh people thanks to Bruce and Alfred but preferred his own lot. 

The nightwatchman chuckled. “Figured as much. Your brother definitely is.”

Jason frowned slightly. It was fine if the guy insulted him but no one insulted Tim in front of Jason. That was Jason’s job.

“Sorry, he just looks like he was raised by money. You know?”

“Yeah,” Jason said with a sigh. That at the very least was true. “My mother married up. That’s for sure.”

Not true. But it was a good cover story. Tim’s neighbors were polite rich but were also just as nosy as the next guy. They probably wondered who the heck Jason was to the kid. And since they didn’t really look like one another… Saying they were stepbrothers was as good as any explanation.

“Look,” Luke said. “You seem like a cool dude. And since you’re only around for the weekend, I’ll let you stay at my place. My roommate just moved out so I have a spare room you could use.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jason said as he watched Luke fiddle with his keys. 

“Fifty bucks a night sound cool to you? It’s the best rate you’ll get for a last-minute check-in,” Luke said with an amused grin. 

“Yeah, that’s better than okay,” Jason said smiling widely. “I’m actually going to need a place to stay in a few months. I’m planning to move down here permanently.”

“I could use a roommate,” Luke said scratching his chin. “But I can’t wait a couple of months…”

“Well, what’s the rent? I can maybe start paying rent pronto, depending on the amount.”

Luke grinned. “Stay the weekend. Check out the place. The neighborhood. The neighbors,” Luke told him and his shoulders dropped in resignation. There was something he didn’t want to say to Jason. Whatever. He’d see for himself. “It’s a rent-controlled building. I was lucky. It belonged to a great aunt of mine. So your half of the rent, if you move in, will be cheap. But most people can’t really deal with the neighbors. We’ll talk more after your stay this weekend. How does that sound?”

“Alright. Sounds fair,” Jason said taking the key from Luke and exchanging cell phone numbers so that Luke could text him the address and other details. 

When Jason arrived at Luke’s place, he decided right away that the place was great. The neighborhood wasn’t so bad. But the neighbors were mostly old ladies. Like about to kick the bucket old. Like so old they didn’t have the best hearing or vision. Not to mention the best memory. Jason grinned. The place was perfect!

Jason settled in the spare bedroom and then made his way up to the roof of the building. Luke was almost at the top floor and his apartment was tucked in a corner. If and when Jason snuck out at night, he wouldn’t be seen. And since Luke worked nights, he’d never notice Jason’s comings and goings. Hiding his vigilante activities from his soon to be new roommate was going to be cake.

Jason decided to take a better look around the neighborhood from the rooftops. And a billboard caught his attention. It presented a picture of Zatanna and her name in bold letters along with the name of the theater where she was performing. And the dates. Jason gaped. Zatanna was in New York and her show was about to end. Jason made his way down to street level and quickly hailed a cab. On his way to the theater, he tried to devise a plan to get her to help him but couldn’t think of anything. It wasn’t going to be easy. And he ran the risk of being turned into a goat or being convinced he was a dog for a few days. It was so worth it if he got what he wanted though. Definitely worth the risk.

He snuck backstage while people were exiting the theater. He’d spied Zatanna talking to a few guests. Wealth and prestige wafted from them in waves. Zatanna was being extremely respectful. He heard her giggle and smirked. She had those idiots eating out of the palm of her hand. The woman herself was wealthy and her name held clout not only in the world of entertainment but also in the realm of magic users. She could definitely hobnob with the elite because she was one of them. 

Jason made his way to her dressing room and came face to face with something he had not expected to see. A magic circle. He kept his distance but his senses were on alert. He definitely was no longer alone. Something was there, tethered to the circle. But it couldn’t cross over to where Jason was and he could feel whatever it was—an energy or soul—trying to reach out to him. He waggled his finger and smirked. 

“Nuh-uh-uh. You’re not getting close to me.”

No way was he going to allow whatever it was to escape. Not without Zatanna present. Seeing that he was clear of the circle, he made his way to the vanity on the other side of the room. There were a few trinkets and spellbooks that he began to rifle through. And, as if by chance, he came across the spell he was looking for. He read it and memorized it. Then he looked for a preface or index. Anything with instructions that would let him know whether or not a non-magic user could perform the spell.

Jason heard her footsteps and dropped the book. But he stayed rooted in place. He tried to act nonchalant but his mind was spinning. 

_What was it the old man use to say? They’ll believe it’s the truth so long as you believe it’s true? Yeah, it’s true if I believe it’s true!_

“DNIB—TAOLF EDISPU NWOD!” 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

As Jason dangled in mid-air, bound upside down, he chuckled. “Sorry, I was just snooping around. You know what they say about curiosity…”

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father. _

“Yes, it killed the cat,” Zatanna said without a hint of humor.

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“Good thing I’m not a cat?” Jason said feeling hopeful that she’d let him live out the rest of his days as a human.

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“What are you doing back here?” Zaranda asked narrowing her eyes. 

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“It’s kind of a long story,” Jason said and fidgeted. His body spun around slowly until he was no longer facing her. 

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father. _

Zatanna spun him back around with a wave of her hand. She stared at him with an incredulous look. 

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“All the blood is rushing to my head?” Jason said and tried to shrug. “I doubt I’d be able to tell you everything before I pass out.”

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“ESREVER—THGIR EDIS PU!”

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“If you keep spinning me around, I’ll probably hurl on your shoes.”

_My name is Sam Hutchings. The mob killed my foster father._

“LAEVER—YHW ERA UOY EREH?”

“I found out you were performing so I came to find you. But I didn’t think you’d actually help me. So I snuck in backstage and was looking for a change of appearance spell in your book,” Jason blurted out and his eyes widened. His mouth was running without permission thanks to her spell. “It’s important for me to able to hide my appearance. I’m on the run under an assumed name because the mob killed my foster father.”

Jason laughed in his mind but he still stared at Zatanna in shock. He couldn’t believe it had worked. He tricked himself into believing that he really was Sam Hutchings. 

“I’m simply an entertainer. What made you think I had such a spell?” Zatanna asked as she lowered him down to the floor without removing his binds. 

“Uh?” Jason looked at the rope he was tied with then at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“How did you know _before_ you came here?” she said with a roll of her eyes. 

“You work with the Justice League. I heard about you from someone?” Jason said with a lopsided smile. He really hoped that she found him disarming. 

A loud sound suddenly caught both their attention. Jason shivered when the temperature of the room dropped. He heard whatever was in the magic circle hiss. 

“There is some dark magic coursing through you,” Zatanna said and after saying a few words whatever was in the circle quieted down. Then she gave Jason a curious look. “You’ve escaped the jaws of death.”

Jason frowned but didn’t say a word. 

“You were tortured.”

Jason looked away from her and hoped to god she didn’t guess the rest. He pictured the cell he found John in and imagined what he’d gone through so that he wouldn’t have to think about his own past. He wasn’t sure if she’d cast another spell on him or not but he really hoped this worked to get her off his back. 

“If what you say is true—“

“It is!” Jason spat angrily. The magic circle hissed again but when Jason glared at it, it stopped. 

“Interesting,” Zatanna said and spoke a few words to the magic circle and the candles were blown out. The lights flickered on and off until they stayed on. She turned to look at Jason with an appraising stare that made him feel a little uncomfortable and then she freed him of his bonds. “How much do you want to change your appearance?”

“You’re going to help me?”

“Well, not for free,” Zatanna said with a wry smile. 

“I can pay, no problem,” Jason said with a grin. 

_Fuck yeah!_

“I’ll have your charm ready by tomorrow,” Zatanna told him and they hashed out a few details. She set her price and Jason shook her hand with a promise to return the next night with her payment in hand. 

“Uh, before I leave. Can I ask what was in the circle?” Jason said looking at the spot where he’d felt some sort of spirit before. 

“A robin,” Zatanna said and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Like a bird?” Jason said frowning. That was quite a coincidence. 

“Yes. But more along the lines of a spirit. A harbinger,” Zatanna said watching his reaction closely.

“Is something going to happen to me?” Jason asked nervously. 

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not a fortune teller,” Zatanna said with a shrug. 

“Why did you call on it?”

“It came to me. It was quite annoying so I trapped it. Somehow, after seeing you, it left on its own.”

“Whoa. That’s fucking foreboding,” Jason said and visibly shivered. “Is that why you’re helping me?”

“Yes; because of what the harbinger said about your past, I feel like I should help you,” Zatanna said and then gestured to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Right,” Jason said and slowly walked towards the exit with his head down. Before he walked out, he turned around and stared at her back as Zatanna gathered her books. “And, uh, thanks.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Zatanna said and waved. 

Jason could see her face through her vanity mirror. She was smiling at him. He smiled back and waved before walking out. He shivered again once more hoping to rid himself of the uneasiness that tried to overtake him. He shook his head and chuckled. She was probably fucking with him anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will post in two weeks


	9. You are reading the ninth chapter

Going out as Nightwing for the first time was exhilarating. The skin-tight suit almost felt like a second skin. It made Jason feel oddly naked. But it wasn’t the suit that had him feeling that way. It was the lack of guns. He couldn’t have them on him or near him at the academy. But he always had his guns with him when he came into the city. Going out without them to fight crime made him feel vulnerable as if he wasn’t wearing anything at all. He was able to shove that feeling away though as he flew through the New York night sky. The adrenaline rush almost made up for it.

Jason was very much aware that he didn’t have the same grace as the original Nightwing. But what did the people of New York know? All they would see—or not see since Jason wasn’t too keen on going out in broad daylight… yet—would be a blue-clad vigilante swooping in to save the day. He was completely certain he would be able to mimic Nightwing when it came to his fighting style. Minus the almost inhuman flexibility of a circus performer. The chatter he could do. The puns? Maybe. Dick was almost neurotic about puns. Not that Jason couldn’t handle them. Then there was the fact that he would have to tone down the aggression. Not to mention, be a little nicer. He wasn’t sure if he could do nice, though. Charming? Yeah, he could do charming. It was basically his middle… uh, yeah, no it wasn’t. 

“Oh, what do we have here?” Nightwing said to a couple of idiots he’d found by accident. He’d been in the middle of stretching his limbs by means of flying from one roof to another. But had to double back to assess a burglary in progress. 

“Who the heck are you?” one of the men dressed the way Jason had been dressed a week ago, ironically, asked. “Ow!”

“Idiot! That’s Nightwing! Don’t you keep up with the capes?” said the other who was just wearing dark jeans and a dark red tee. He had the balaclava on though he had it pushed up over his nose. He didn’t give off the goon for hire vibe. It was more like taking something that doesn’t belong to you for the first time sorta impression. “Look, I swear  _ this _ isn’t what it looks like.”

“Oh really? So I should just go on my way and stop some other idiots breaking and entering because…?” he left the end of the sentence open for redshirt to fill in. 

“It's my ex-girlfriend’s place. I just need one very personal thing before she comes back,” redshirt told him. 

“And you call me an idiot. Do you think he’s just going to let you go in now? Like the cape gives a damn that you gave her your ma’s engagement ring and that she refused to give it back when she dumped you.”

Nightwing cocked his head to the side. His predecessor would care. He should care. But he really didn’t. However, he could help them settle this in a more non-criminally way. Just to see how that went.

“Unfortunately, once you gave it to her you don’t have any more claim to it,” Nightwing told him and then rubbed his chin in thought. 

“Told ya!”

“However,” Nightwing said and paused. “There might be a loophole.”

“What is it?” redshirt asked eagerly. 

“Was your mom aware you gave the ring away?”

“No,” redshirt said and sighed. “That’s why I need it back. But my ex just doesn’t care. She just wants her payback.”

“Did you ask her nicely or did you demand her to give it back?”

“What does that matter?” the idiot friend said. 

“I told her she had to give it back,” redshirt confessed. 

“You fucked up,” Nightwing told him. Both men blinked stupidly at him. “Girls, especially exes, don’t like men demanding anything from them. But if you apologize, she might cave depending on how badly you hurt her. That and you could tell her your mom talked to an attorney and is about to sue her ass taking into account that the ring legally belongs to your mom. You know, since you stole it without your mom’s consent.”

“You really think that will work?” redshirt asked. 

“Who knows?” Nightwing shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s better than you actually breaking in to take it cause then I’ll just have to, you know, turn you into police custody,” Nightwing said with a disarming smile. The men looked very nervous suddenly. Oh, being nice was so much fun!

Both the idiot and redshirt backed away from the window as much as they could in the tight space they were in with their hands up. 

“Maybe we try it your way,” said redshirt. 

“Yeah, I like that idea better,” said the idiot. 

“You sure?” Nightwing said sounding just a tad devilish. 

They both nodded frantically. 

“Run along then,” Nightwing said making shooing motions with his hands. 

The two men took off quickly down the fire escape almost tripping over each other. 

Nightwing went back up to the roof from the ledge he’d previously been perched on. He watched as the men tore down the alley, discarding their masks, and jumped into a Beemer before tearing it up the road. Not even a block away they were pulled over for running a red light. Nightwing chuckled. Then he decided to check on that same apartment later that night. He wanted to talk to the ex. That is if there really was an ex. He’d either warn the tenant to get a window alarm if it was the case of an innocent almost victim of a robbery or to convince the ex to return the ring if the story about that was true. 

Nightwing was channeling his inner Dick Grayson alright. Meddling in the affairs of his victims and the assailants. Red Hood would never be caught dead playing friendly neighborhood vigilante. He shook his head and placed a pin on his map app. He even added a little note. In case he forgot to return later. Or the details about what had just transpired. He could always come back the next night or during the day. He’d play it by ear or something. This was all new territory for him. But he’d always liked challenges. And this was definitely one. 

By the time the sun was coming up, Nightwing had stopped four muggings and three separate car robberies. He couldn’t leave them tied up to wait for the police since he still didn’t have any pull in the city. It was his first night after all. Instead, after each incident, after he tied up the assailants, he dropped them off at the nearest police department. He left them on the steps with a helpful note and the weapon the muggers used taped to the front of their shirts. He didn’t wait for the police to take them in. He just went on his way. He hoped the muggers themselves would notify police that Nightwing was in town. 

Nightwing took a break on a rooftop when he realized how far he was from his current apartment. He’d never traveled so far out of his area while on patrol in New York. He just couldn’t help how excited he’d been after he put on the suit. He was eating a protein bar when he noticed something peculiar. The dawn sun was catching on an office window. But it kept moving. As if someone inside was trying to catch the reflection on a small mirror. He drew closer and noticed that all the lights in the offices were on. There was a person pacing back on forth on the same floor as the reflection of the sun he’d seen. The person’s movements were stiff and he seemed to be looking around frantically. When Nightwing lowered himself onto the ledge of the floor, he noticed that all the employees were tied and gagged. They had all been positioned on the floor. The entire space was open. There were cubicles all around. So it was easy for the man who was holding them all hostage to keep an eye on everyone. One of the women had crawled close to a window and hidden behind a stack of boxes. She was the one who was using a stapler to try to catch the light hoping to signal someone. But she had her hands tied behind her back and probably wasn’t aware that her little stunt had worked.

Nightwing called emergency services as he was trying to open a window out of the view of the captor. Once he explained the situation and gave the cross streets of his location, he hung up. He had work to do. The first thing he did was to go up to the woman who’d caught his attention to let her know help was on its way. He untied her and told her to stay put. Then he snuck up on the man who was currently talking to himself and waving a gun around. He decided stealth would work best in this situation. He went up to him from behind and knocked him out cold. After subduing him and tying him up, he began to release the hostages. He told them that police and paramedics were on their way. The first released helped others. Before police arrived and after he’d received dozens of thank yous and hugs—that Jason was not very comfortable with but powered through them, nonetheless—, he snuck out the window and waited on a nearby rooftop until all the victims had been looked at by paramedics. Their captor was taken into custody and Nightwing sighed in relief.

  
“Nightwing?!” 

Jason turned around to see Tim in civvies coming towards him. 

“What are you doing out here, kid?” 

“Nightwing! Is it really you?” Tim said as he barreled into Jason. He hugged him tightly and Jason stiffened.

“Kid, I’m not who you think I am,” Jason said but Tim wasn’t listening. “Replacement!”

Tim drew back quickly and stared at him in disbelief.

“Kid, you need to breathe,” Jason said and reached into the Nightwing suit to pull out a charm he was using. Suddenly, his hair was a dirty blond though his dark brown roots were already showing. And his face was just a little wider than Dick’s. 

Tim could see now that the nose and lips, even his cheekbones, had changed under the mask.

“Jason?!”

“Yeah, kid, it’s me,” Jason said feeling a bit guilty about the incident. He hadn’t expected Tim to be in New York so soon. Cassie had said he wouldn’t be by until the next day. He looked up at the sky and realized it was the next day, but hadn’t Tim slept? Wasn’t he in the middle of an Arkham breakout? “I was going to tell you… You were the one who gave me the suit, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just…” Tim said and shook his head. He rubbed his hand over his hair and face and then crouched down. 

“What happened to the breakout, kid? How’d you get out here so fast?” Jason asked hoping the change of topic would help Tim feel grounded.

“Uh, it was just the Penguin and the Riddler and their goons so it was wrapped up pretty fast,” Tim said and looked up at Jason. “I thought you were… There was all this chatter on Chirper about possible Nightwing sightings in New York. So, I came down here as fast as I could. Once I got to the apartment Cassie told me you’d left. I texted you but I guess you were busy with the... hostage situation?“ he pointed over to the next building over. “Anyway, Cassie... uh, she flew me over and… How did you do that?” He swooped his hand over his face so that Jason understood what he was talking about.

“A charm that I got from Zatanna,” Jason said and showed it to Tim before he put it back on. It was just a gem on a chain that he clipped to the inside of the suit. Suddenly, Jason looked more like Dick. But there were subtle differences. It was mostly the hair and the thinner frame and face that made him look like Dick. 

“Zatanna? Really?” Tim said and Jason nodded. Tim stood up and looked him up and down. “Well, you fooled me.”

“I wasn’t trying to, kid. Really. I would’ve told you when I saw you,” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t really know what else to say.

“So you’re doing this to antagonize Dick?” Tim said curiously. 

“Yeah.”

“It’s a good plan.”

“I thought so too,” Jason said and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I’m sorry about…”

“Hey, don’t worry about, kid. There was no way you could’ve known. And honestly, I forgot until just now,” Jason said with a shrug. He stretched his arms in front of himself. “I can’t really see myself. So, do I look like his twin, you think?”

“Yeah, I’d say,” Tim said with a nod and seemed a lot better than before to Jason. “So, how’d you get Zatanna to give you the charm to change your appearance?”

“Uh,” Jason said and then chuckled. “That’s a story.”

“I bet.”

Jason grinned. “Let's get out of here and I’ll tell you over some beers.”

“I’m not old enough to drink,” Tim said with a roll of his eyes. They’d had this conversation one too many times.

“Yeah, so. I need a beer," Jason pointed at himself and then at Tim. "You look like you need a beer. So, let’s have some beers.”

Tim sighed and shook his head. Jason wasn’t one to be discouraged easily it seemed.

“So that Cassie girl flew you over, huh?” Nightwing said looking around. 

“She’s gone,” Tim said and looked away. “I told her I needed to do this on my own.”

“Yeah, you definitely need a beer,” Jason said and walked up to Tim putting him in a headlock and rubbing his head. Tim had complained a little and half-heartedly tried to get out of Jason’s grasp. Jason let go after a few more failed attempts before dancing out of the way.

When Jason reached the edge of the rooftop, he threw an extra grappling gun at Tim. They went back to Tim’s place since it was closer. That and it was where Jason had left his beer. He had a story to tell Tim about the charm. Not only that but the plan he’d come up with to draw the real Nightwing out of hiding. He just hoped that his plan worked the way he was hoping it would. Unfortunately, he’d not foreseen the run-in with Tim before he’d been debriefed. He felt like an asshole for that but there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. But he did want Tim’s input on whether or not to say anything to any others who may have a vested interest in Nightwing’s whereabouts. Because he really hadn’t thought his plan all the way through before he executed it. But at the very least, Tim wasn’t dwelling on it. Or at least it didn’t seem that he was upset with Jason over the whole mistaken identity bit. Or was it identity theft? Either way, Jason wasn’t going to go back on his plan until the real Nightwing fought him for the title. He was actually looking forward to that. 


	10. You are reading the tenth chapter

After Jason told Tim the story of how he went about getting the charm from Zatanna, they decided to go inside his apartment. Tim was quiet as he thought about everything Jason had said. Though he wondered about the harbinger, he told Jason he was stupid again. 

“She could’ve forced more information out of you and given you over to Batman or the League’s custody since she is part of it,” Tim said with a note of exasperation. 

“I knew the risks, replacement,” Jason said with a shrug. “It was worth it.” He tapped the compartment on his utility belt that currently housed the charm. 

“But she only believed you because of that harbinger…” Tim said and looked thoughtful again. 

“Don’t do that,” Jason told him. 

“Do what?”

“Dwell on it,” Jason said. “I was dead. I might have like a ghost me, you know, hanging about.” Jason vaguely gestured to the air around him. 

“What?” Tim said and nervously looked about. He felt goosebumps rise on his arms. 

Jason started to laugh. It was so easy to tease the kid.

“You are such an asshole,” Tim said with a small shake of his head. “Let’s get inside before you actually become a ghost.”

Jason stopped laughing and looked at Tim’s retreating back with a raised eyebrow. 

“Did you just threaten to kill me?” Jason said with a smirk as he followed Tim through the window on the roof that allowed access to Tim’s bedroom. 

“Why would I do something like that?” Tim said giving Jason an innocent expression. 

Jason just cocked his head and chuckled. 

“That doesn’t work on me,” Jason said with a smirk. “I invented that look.”

“And I perfected it,” Tim said seriously. 

“Kid, you’re a real piece of work,” Jason said and chuckled. “And just so you know, you can’t perfect something that is already flawless. The word you were looking for was mimic. You know, like what monkeys do.”

Tim scoffed. “If I’m a monkey, what are you? An orangutan?”

“I didn’t think you thought so highly of me,” Jason said grinning widely with a hand on his chest.

“What are you talking about? That wasn’t even a compliment,” Tim said in annoyance. Jason had a way of turning any insult into a compliment that Tim found frustrating to some degree. 

“Oh, didn’t you know? Monkeys are only four times stronger than humans,” Jason said with a teasing smile. “And Orangutans? Well, those fuckers are seven times stronger than a human.”

“Shut up,” Tim said and began a search on his phone to see if Jason was right. “Huh.”

Jason laughed as he rummaged through Tim’s closet for a change of clothes. Who knew that he would be able to use his primate knowledge to shut the little boy genius up one day?

“Like I said, you can only mimic perfection, replacement. And even then, you’ll always fall a little short,” Jason said making it a point to differentiate between his height and Tim’s by holding up a pair of the other boy’s pants to his legs.

“Har har,” Tim said sarcastically and sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m still growing, you know.”

“Oh, sure sure,” Jason said and stopped looking through the closet. He made his way to the dresser when he didn’t find anything that would fit him while he pulled off the Nightwing suit. “But so am I. Doubt you’ll catch up to me.”

“Whatever.”

Jason rummaged through Tim’s drawers until he found some sweat pants that looked like they were close to his size and a Superman tee. 

“Those are Conner’s,” Tim said trying to take them out of Jason’s grasp. He only managed to take the tee away. “You can’t wear ‘em.”

Jason looked at him curiously. But having heard the emotion behind the words, he threw the sweat pants back at Tim and grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. They looked smaller than the previous garments he’d grabbed and would probably be a tight fit but Tim didn’t make a fuss. He had no idea why the kid got so emotional about Conner, but Jason didn’t want to open that can of worms. So far, he was two for two on the asshole front towards Tim that day. He didn’t want to make it three. 

Jason made his way to the bathroom in his underwear having left the Nightwing suit on the floor without care. He’d pick it up later. He was simply in a hurry to give Tim some privacy. Or maybe he felt awkward about whatever it was that had just happened and just wanted to be on his own. Either way, him walking away was a win-win for them both. When he came out of the shower, he smelled food and made his way to the kitchen while drying his hair with a hand towel only to stop short when he saw Cassie in the kitchen.

“You’re still here?” Jason said leaving the towel around his neck. Cassie simply scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Did you kiss and make-up like you were planning?”

“What?” Tim said closing the fridge with a box of OJ in his hands. He looked from Jason to Cassie hoping for clarification. 

“Are you two, you know?” Jason left the question vague as he made some sort of hand gesture that not even a two-year-old could decipher. 

“No, I don’t know. And I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tim said and looked at Cassie who’d stuffed her face with toast just so that she wouldn’t have to answer. Then she shrugged and shook her head before making the universal sign for crazy before pointing at Jason who she only knew as Sam. 

“Heh,” Jason said looking at Cassie. “Maybe I am crazy but at least I’m not in lo—“

But Jason wasn’t able to finish his taunt because Cassie jumped over the kitchen island to sock him in the face. 

“Cassie! What the hell?!” Tim said running to Jason who’d crashed into the floor and slid towards the couch. By the time he reached Jason, he was bleeding all over the floor. And also shaking with mirth. 

Cassandra Sandsmark was staring at the scene mouth agape. First of all, she only meant to shut Sam up. Second of all, why hadn’t he blocked her punch? She wasn’t even moving at her top speed. Even Tim could’ve stopped her. Actually, Tim would’ve been able to duck even if she’d been going at her top speed. Third, if Sam was a friend of Tim didn’t that mean he was one of them? Another teen with superpowers or some sort of vigilante. So that meant he definitely could’ve avoided getting punched in the face. Right? Right? Fourth, to reiterate what Tim has just said…

“What the hell?” Cassie said in a low disbelieving tone. She locked eyes with Tim for a moment before he shook his head and focused on the man bleeding on the floor. 

“That’s one way to shut me up,” Jason said and with Tim’s help sat up from the previous awkward position he'd been in. He tried to stop from bleeding on the floor but his hand could only hold so much blood. “Fuck. She broke my nose, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Tim said and sighed. Then in a whisper added, “What’d you do to piss her off?”

“Funny thing about unrequited feelings,” Jason said looking at Cassie who was looming in the background with a glare that could rival the Flash’s on a good day. The statement only left Tim feeling more confused about what had just transpired.

“Don’t you ever shut up?” Cassie told him feeling her annoyance at him flare once more. 

“Don’t you ever leave?” Jason shot back. Then he grabbed hold of Tim’s hands that were reaching for his nose. 

“I need to set it,” Tim told him. 

“Fine,” Jason said as he’s tossed Tim’s hands aside. Then he used Tim’s shoulder with his clean hand to stand up. “But not here. I need to wash all this blood off.”

“Right,” Tim said and followed him to the bathroom then looked over his shoulder. “Cassie, get me some ice. Then, clean all this up.”

“Oh, like it’s my fault the guy can’t block a punch,” Cassie said throwing her hands up in the air and stomping towards the fridge to get ice. She was annoyed. More with herself than that stupid Sam. And Tim wasn’t helping. All he was doing was making her feel more guilty. Especially when she heard the crunch of Jason’s nose being set and his shout of pain. But then Tim chuckled and said something under his breath that made Jason laugh and Cassie sighed with relief. At least they weren't pissed at her.

When Cassie arrived in the bathroom to hand over the ice, Sam had tissue up his nose and was trying unsuccessfully to bat Tim’s hands away who was wiping away the blood from his face with a wet towel. 

"You don't need to wipe my face clean, damn you," Jason said not being able to deter Tim from cleaning his face. “I’m a big boy even though I’m wearing your little boy pants.”

“God, you’re such an asshole,” Tim told him and put more force behind his swipes. Jason groaned in annoyance. "Just go limp and play dead."

Cassie snorted and placed the ice with a thunk onto the counter before she walked back towards the mess on the floor in the living room that she still had to clean up. She was going to need cleaning products. She sighed heavily and went to the cabinet Tim stored them in. And then a thought hit her as she pictured the scene in the bathroom once more. Sam and Tim were close and they were behaving like brothers. But Tim didn’t have any brothers other than Nightwing. Cassie shook her head. Whoever Sam was, he definitely wasn’t who’d she’d thought he was. And she needed to be more careful around the guy. He had a big fucking mouth.

“Seriously,” Tim said in a low voice as he placed the ice on Jason’s face once Cassie was out of earshot. “What the hell’d you do to piss of Cassie?”

“She comes in one setting, kid,” Jason told him fixing his eyes on Tim's. “Temperamental. She could go from one end of the spectrum to the other in seconds. Trust me, I didn’t have to do much.”

“Yeah,” Tim said and sighed. He knew from experience that that was true. He looked back towards the other room. “I didn’t think she’d stay, though. She’s just being nosy. Sorry.”

Jason looked at him askance. Then he got off the toilet and grabbed Tim by the shoulder to steer him to the kitchen. “Come on, I need that beer like now.”

The smell of bleach assaulted Tim’s senses as soon as they reached the living area. 

“Jeez, Cassie, did you use the whole bottle?” Tim said looking over at her. He was not happy with her at all. 

“Hey, I’m doing you a big favor. I offered to play messenger not housemaid.”

“Maybe next time you won't make a guy bleed all over my floor so that you don't have to clean up the mess.”

“You make it sound like I meant for my fist to connect. What kind of loser doesn’t block a punch?”

“And that’s another thing, why’d you go at him in the first place?” Tim said with his arms crossed over his chest staring at Cassie from a few steps away. 

Jason was already sipping at his beer with a smile playing on his face. He was watching them argue and thinking it was so much more funny that her fist had connected to his nose than it would’ve been if he’d blocked her punch. Because let’s face it, he definitely could’ve blocked that punch. And just to make the girl feel even more guilty he decided to add his two cents. 

“What am I supposed to tell my instructors at the academy about this?” he gestured to his face. “Getting into bar fights is frowned upon.”

Tim groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Academy? What academy?” Cassie said throwing all the dirty rags into a black garbage bag then took off the gloves she was wearing and tossing them in the bag as well since she'd finished cleaning up. 

“I’m in the police academy,” Jason said and finished his beer before placing the bag of ice back on his face and just for effect groaned. He could care less about swelling or bruising or any pain he was experiencing. But it was funny to see her look guilty for a split second. “And I would rather not be expelled.”

“Police Academy?” Cassie said looking at Tim. “You mean to tell me that this guy is a civilian?”

Tim just stared at her. He didn’t want to lie and say that Jason was a civilian. But he wasn’t sure what he could tell her. He very well couldn’t say that Jason was the Red Hood. Especially since he knew that Cassie wasn’t so great at keeping secrets. Not when they were about people she didn’t rightly consider a friend. And he also couldn’t tell her that Jason was the second Robin cause everyone thought he was dead. So what the hell was he supposed to tell her? She only knew Jason as Sam. And he was certain that Jason wanted to keep it that way. If not, he would’ve blocked the punch. He looked over at Jason and saw his smirk. Then turned to look at Cassie who was glaring at Jason. He couldn’t hold back a groan. 

Jason and Cassie were flirting with each other. Of course they were. He shook his head and decided not to care. They could sort out their own mess. He was done. 

“That’s right, witless girl,” Jason told her. “You just punched a civilian without due cause. Won’t this revoke your little hero membership if I tell?”

“Tell who? You’re an idiot if you think you have that sort of pull,” Cassie said and glared at him with more force if that were even possible. 

“You would think that, wouldn’t you?” Jason said with a shrug. “Funny thing. When  _ I _ break someone’s nose, not only does the person whose nose I broke know the reason but also everyone else. I  _ kind of _ know why you punched me...”

_ Yeah right he doesn’t know, _ Cassie thought as she gritted her teeth.  _ Tim is right. Sam is an asshole. _

“But I doubt Tim knows why you punched me. So, witless girl, why don’t you enlighten him? And maybe, Wonder Woman won’t come down to smite you for little ol’ me.”

“Like  _ you  _ know Wonder Woman,” Cassie scoffed. 

“She’s a family friend.”

“Yeah right.”

“Have I lied to you, yet?”

“Tim!” Cassie said looking for her friend wanting to know if what Sam was saying was even remotely true. “Tim?”

“Yeah, he left like three minutes ago. Shouldn’t you, you know, go after him or something to declare your undying love?”

“Shut the hell up!” Cassie said pointing at him. 

Jason chuckled. “Or what, you’ll break my nose? Again.”

Cassie growled and went to Tim’s bedroom to look for him. 

“Tim, does Sam know Wonder Woman?” Cassie asked almost pleading.

Tim shrugged with a bored expression as he looked up from his laptop.

“So he doesn’t?”

“I didn’t say that,” Tim said. “I just meant I don’t know. But if he said he did…”

“But how would he know her? You said he was a civilian,” Cassie said looking at Tim pointedly.

Tim frowned. He hadn’t said that either but he wasn’t going to correct her.

“What does it even matter? All I can tell you is that he isn’t here because I’m helping him. He’s here because he’s helping me,” Tim said and turned away from her. "And whatever you two are doing is not helping and none of my business."

"What we're doing? What the hell does that mean?" Cassie said in annoyance but Tim ignored her. "There is no we between me and him, Tim."

When Tim began to type something up, Cassie groaned knowing that he wouldn’t look back up from the screen unless there was an emergency. Tim was such a workaholic it was endearing and frustrating all at once. Especially when he used it as an escape to not have to deal with the real world.

“Well, whatever. You’re right, it doesn’t matter,” Cassie said and walked up to the door. She held onto the door frame as she looked back over her shoulder. “Don’t forget to eat.”

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Tim asked without looking at her.

“I’ll just take it to go,” Cassie said and smiled softly when he looked up finally. “See you around, Tim.”

“Yeah,” Tim said with a small nod.  _ What the hell just happened? _

By the time Tim made it back to the kitchen, Cassie was gone. Jason was eating and looked up at him.

“You send her away?” Jason asked and pointed to the door. “You didn’t have to on my account.”

Tim could see it in his face and in his demeanor, Jason couldn't have cared less whether or not Cassie was present. He had just defaulted to asshole for the fuck all of it and Tim had misconstrued the entire thing. Because Cassie was probably just being Cassie. Maybe.

“I don’t know why but I have this feeling that I just fucked up,” Tim said staring at the door.

Jason barked out a laugh. “That you did.”

Tim just stared at him and then shook his head. He wasn’t going to waste time trying to figure it out. He still had some case notes to write up since he’d left Gotham in a hurry. He only came into New York in a hurry to see Nightwing. It just turned out to be the wrong one.

“Your suit is in the dryer. It should be dry in a few more minutes.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jason said with a slight frown. If that wasn’t a dismissal, he was a monkey’s uncle. And now he was feeling like  _ he’d _ fucked up. He groaned. That would be strike three. 

_ Godammit _ . 

Jason went to the room and stared at the kid. 

“ _ Timmers, _ what’d I do?”

Tim looked up at him in surprise. That was the first time Jason had referred to him by name. It was usually replacement or Tammy, which definitely didn't count, or kid. And that made absolutely no sense. Jason was what? Two years older than him? At the most three. But he digressed. Maybe Jason felt guilty and that was why he called him by his name. Guilty about what? Tim wasn’t sure. 

“Nothing, you dolt,” Tim said with a smirk.

“Are you sure?” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest giving Tim a pointed look.

“Yeah, definitely,” Tim said with a small nod.

“Alright, just making sure. I’m just going to finish waiting for the suit to dry and then there’s a girl I gotta go see.”

“A girl?”

“Yeah, I’m trying something new as Nightwing. Making follow-up house calls and whatnot.”

“Huh.”

“You want to come with?”

“Why?”

Jason shrugged. “Never done it before. You could give me pointers or some shit.”

Tim chuckled. He didn’t think Jason needed pointers in dealing with people but he was reaching out in the spirit of friendship or something so Tim would oblige. 

“Yeah, just give a minute to finish this up.”

“No prob,” Jason said and walked away feeling better about getting the kid to come out of his funk. And who knew how that house call would pan out. He was hoping it really was an ex-girlfriend he would find and not just someone who was going to be robbed. Because if it was the latter, he’d fucked up and let some crooks get away scot-free. And Tim would most definitely laugh at his ass. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he had fucked up. At the very least, he could make the kid laugh. 


	11. You are reading the eleventh chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this one week early; will resume posting every two weeks in—not to be redundant but—two weeks.

Jason was lucky; the woman of the house happened to be home when he arrived. She was getting the coffee machine set up for a morning brew when she turned to look out the window. Right there in her line of sight happened to be Nightwing. He was standing on the fire escape. And he was smiling. Then he lifted a hand to wave at her. So, like any normal person would do, she screamed.

Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck still holding his smile in place as he spoke through gritted teeth to Tim who was listening on an earpiece from the rooftop. “Shit, kid, what do I do?”

“Apologize. Introduce yourself. And tell her why you’re there,” Tim said patiently. But there was a hint of humor there too.

“Hey, there. I’m Nightwing. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jason said loud enough to be heard over the morning traffic. 

The girl took a breath to steady her nerves then gently put down her mug on the kitchen counter. She walked to the window opening it barely enough to be heard without needing to raise her voice. 

Jason thought she was pretty. Wild curly brown hair. Big luscious lips. Green eyes that stood out against the satin tan skin. He was excited to speak to her. To hear the sound of her voice. 

“Why’re you here? Outside my window? Before I even had my fucking coffee! You think 'cause you’re some sort of vigilante you could just harass—!“

“Woah! Now hold on lady,” Jason said losing any and all excitement.  _ That was her voice? Er, Satan called he wants you to stop impersonating his wife.  _

Jason took a breath and was grateful she stopped talking to hear him out. Jesus, was she actually tapping her foot to hurry him up? 

“I was just trying to get your attention to have a chat. But if you don’t care that I stopped two burglars the other night from breaking into your place, I’ll be on my way,” Jason said and turned to leave. 

“Wait! Start from the beginning,” she said crossing her arms under her ample chest while giving him an impatient look. “I don’t have all morning, you know.”

Jason sighed heavily. This was so not fun. And so not worth his trouble. “Long story short: two bozos—one claiming to be your ex—wanted to break into your place to get an engagement ring that allegedly belonged to his mother. I talked him out of it. But just in case, you know, he was lying, I thought I’d warn you to get better locks or some window bars. Possibly a big dog.” _Not that you need one. Your bark is enough, _he thought sourly.

“So you didn’t arrest them?”

“They technically didn’t do anything.”

“So, you just came to tell me that you let two criminals go?" she said with a raised eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "What if they were rapists?”

“They weren’t.”

“Oh, so now you’re a mind reader too? Can you read my mind? It's telling you to go—”

“Look! Er, lady," he said feeling pleased with himself that he didn't actually call her Lady Satan or something else to that effect. "The guy seemed to be telling the truth. But you tell me, did you recently break off your engagement and refuse to return the ring that just so happened to be a family heirloom?”

“That’s none of your business, Night-cracker,” she said placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward cause the man in the skin-tight suit didn't scare her. No sir.

“Original,” Jason said dryly and quirked an eyebrow. “_But_...seems like I hit a nerve.”

“What’s it to _you_?”

“Oh, it’s not my problem at all. I’m not the one who's about to be hit with a lawsuit over a stolen ring.”

“Stolen ring?!”

“Yeah, your idiotic ex stole the ring from his mother. She wants it back. He was an asshole when he asked for give-backs. Then when you didn't comply with his demand, he decided it was best to steal it back from you. Regardless of his past sins, you should know his mother is pressing charges. On him. And suing you. It’s your call what you do next.”

“That piece of shit motherfucker! You tell him—!”

“Hey, I did my good deed for today. You tell him whatever your heart desires on your own time. See ya!”

Jason made it back to the roof just to see Tim snickering. He smiled. And then waved his hand in front of his face. 

“Fuck this shit! I’m never doing that again,” Jason told him. “Let those assholes work out their own shit.”

“I thought it went well,” Tim said highly amused.

“Yeah, sure,” Jason said and rubbed his face. “If I was Dickiebird that chick would’ve thrown herself at me but oh no, not me. I get stuck with Lady Satan.”

“It’s not you. It’s how people are here in the Big Apple. Just face it, you’re not in Gotham anymore.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s true. Most New Yorkers _are_ pretty rude. And the rest don’t look at you twice. But still, that just wasn’t worth it.”

“Maybe, but it was kinda sweet,” Tim said with a little smile. “You’ll be a great Nightwing.”

“Yeah…” Jason said and looked out towards the city. “There’s no other feeling like filling in Big Bird's shoes, that’s for sure.”

“Or yours.”

“What?” Jason said looking over at Tim who was refusing to meet his eyes. 

“I said, or yours. It’s not easy being the Robin that succeeded you,” Tim said with a slight blush and his face half turned away. 

“Why not? Being Robin isn’t so rough. It’s trying to survive the psychos that brings death a-knocking,” Jason said with a smirk. 

Tim turned to give him a disbelieving look. 

“What?” Jason said innocently. “It’s too soon to joke about my death?”

“Yes,” Tim said with a jerky nod. 

“Nah, it’s never too soon to talk about your biggest mistakes or smallest or any of the in-between ones,” Jason said with a grin. “Like this one just now, convincing Lady Satan to give a ring back and not feeling an ounce of guilt over lying about why she should.”

“You lied to her?” Tim said then shook his head. Because, what did it matter? They learned to say what they had to in order to get results from Batman himself. And Jason was just being Jason. Tim was just happy to get to know the real him instead of the one he’d built up in his head. 

Jason shrugged. “I’m taking off. I desperately need sleep. Then I have to head back to the academy. See ya some other time, kid.”

“Uh, sure,” Tim said and walked in the opposite direction from Jason to where he’d stashed his bike. 

Tim turned back and watched Nightwing jump from the rooftop just to see him swing to the next block over. He looked like a shadow against the morning light. And from the angle Tim was watching, Jason almost passed for the original Nightwing. Tim rubbed his eyes and hoped he’d hear from or see Dick soon. He missed him terribly and was putting so much faith in Jason wanting to believe him that Dick was okay. But if Jason could easily lie to a stranger couldn’t he just as easily lie to Tim? Tim was a stranger to Jason after all. Tim shook his head to get rid of the doubt. Something inside him told him that even if lying came easy to Jason—and let’s face it, it came easy to Tim too because they were bats—he wouldn’t lie about Dick. Tim firmly believed that. And convinced of that, he made his way back to Gotham. He could wait for Jason’s plan to come to fruition. He just hoped it was sooner rather than later. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait for results. 

* * *

  
  


When Jason arrived at his new apartment, he was happy to see his roommate was out. He quickly changed and lay down on the bed after having put away the Nightwing suit in the case that Tim had provided. It was secure on the floor of the closet and had a nifty keypad that read fingerprints while the user was imputing the correct code. He wondered who’d come up with that security detail. Lucius Fox, the old man, or the boy genius. He didn’t have much time to think about it before he fell asleep. 

The pain on his face woke him. His nose felt stuffed and he gingerly felt the injured area. He hissed and chuckled at the memory. He got up and noticed the sun had already gone down. He needed to make his way back to the academy. There was no way he would be patrolling that night even though the charm hid the bruising and swelling. He prepared his bag and went to the bathroom to take a piss. He caught his reflection as he washed his hands. The swelling wasn’t so bad but the bruising… ugh! He was going to have to explain how it happened. Or hopefully, everyone already knew he was enough of an asshole to know someone would attempt to hit him whenever he so much as uttered a syllable. Not that he’d ever allowed anyone to hit his face during sparring. Even tried to avoid it in fights too, but it wasn't always feasible. But if he told anyone he’d actually planned this, he doubted anyone would believe him. 

He had a few secrets he’d kept to himself. Like the fact that he’d gotten two separate charms from Zatanna. One to make him look like Dick while he ran around town as Nightwing and another to look like Sam, blond hair and a crooked nose to boot. Yup. He needed to have his nose broken for that to work. He just didn’t know it was going to be so easy to rile up Wonder Girl. He was lucky she’d only put so much force behind that punch and not the entirety of her frustration behind it. He ran a hand over his hair, his roots hadn’t grown out too much. He’d be fine to go without dying it again until his bruising healed. By then he’d start wearing the charm that way he could allow his natural hair to grow out. If he ever went back to Gotham, he could choose to go as Sam or Jason and he was very happy to know he had the option. 

He changed the bandage over his nose and made his way out of the building. Not without having a few conversations with a couple of the other tenants. And carrying groceries up for Mrs. Stevens on the third floor. By the time he actually made it to his bike, an hour had passed and he was starving. Drive-thru cheeseburgers were on the menu for the night. Before he hit the highway, he’d finished his two burgers and the entirety of a forty-four-ounce drink. 

“Yeah,” Jason said answering his Bluetooth thinking it was Tim on the other line. 

“ _ S-sam _ !” Derek said sounding way too happy. 

“Der, what’s going on, bud?” Jason said with an automatic smile. 

“ _ Tell me you’re on your way back _ !”

“I’m on my way back,” Jason said half laughing. 

“ _ No, no, no! Ya gotta mean it _ !”

“I do! I mean it. I’m coming back. What’s up?”

“ _ How soon _ ?”

“‘Bout half an hour.”

“ _ Yesssss _ !!!” Derek said elongating the letter s and making Jason laugh. Then he promptly hung up. 

“Well, alright,” Jason said half smiling to himself. “This should be interesting.”

* * *

  
  


“Woah, brother! What the fuck happened to you?” Garcia asked as soon as he stepped inside the dorms. 

“Ah,” Jason said rubbing the back of his neck sporting a lopsided smile. “You know, some people tend to be extra sensitive when other people open their mouths to, you know, talk and stuff.”

“Pfft!” Nevin laughed placing a hand over his mouth trying to stifle the sound. But everyone else that happened to be in the common room couldn’t hold back and laughed. 

Only a handful of recruits were there, including Liberty and Winters. Derek was holding out a hand to the others while simultaneously pointing at Jason. 

“Told ya he’d be back today! You all owe me ten bucks!” Derek said half laughing. He was, like the others, too drunk to care for things such as common decency. Garcia seemed to have all his wits about him. He’d probably been the designated driver. 

“That’s what I’m worth to you, isn’t it?” Jason said looking at his roommate with his head cocked to the side. He went up to his and put him in a headlock rubbing his head. 

“Nooo! Don’t be mad! I l-love you, man!” Derek said as he shoved his money in his pocket once Jason had released him. “I’m gonna buy you s-something nice!” Then he slapped Jason’s ass. 

Jason chuckled. “He’s not going to remember that tomorrow, is he?” he said addressing Garcia since all the others burst out in drunk giggles. 

“I doubt it,” Garcia said and brandished a bottle of whiskey with a half-smirk. “Ya wanna forget too?”

Jason grinned widely and went to go sit next to his new best friend who was filling a red solo cup with some of that amber liquid. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Garcia said tapping his plastic cup to Jason’s. “These idiots were getting on my nerves. And playing catch-up alone sucks.”

“Is this what usually happens when I’m not here on weekends?”

“Pretty much,” Garcia said. “And this coming weekend, you’re the dd. And you’re not getting out of it.” 

“What? Says who?”

“The sarge,” Garcia said and refilled their cups. The others were talking and giggling amongst themselves. “You and Winters are the class reps this week. That’s how we choose new dd's.”

“Huh,” Jason said taking a sip and nodding. “Alright. Sounds fair.”

Every week they had two new class reps. He wasn’t looking forward to it. But it wasn't like he’d never led a group before. Hell, if anyone knew he was the Red Hood then they’d know he’d been a mob boss not so long ago. So this would be a walk in the park. 

“But what about Winters?” Jason said pointing at the girl. 

“She chose Sunday cause you weren’t here to put in your vote!” Liberty screamed at him even though she was sitting only a few inches to his right. 

“Take my eardrum out why don’t you,” Jason groused. “It’s not enough my nose is broken.”

“How’d that happen? And don’t lie,” Crespo said squinting his eyes at him. 

“Why would I lie?” Jason said smiling. 

“Cause you do all the time!” Winters told him. “We have a poll.”

“A poll?” Jason said looking very amused. 

“Yeah, to s-see how many times you’ll lie when as-sked a direct question,” Nevin said nodding his head with a little too much force and then he pitched forward onto the coffee table. He was out like a light a moment later. That sent the others into another giggling fit. 

“We leaving him there or?” Jason asked Garcia who shrugged uncaringly. “Whateves.”

“What hit your nose?” Crespo said going back to the topic. Jason was surprised the man could still think straight. 

“A fist,” Jason said making Garcia snort. 

“Oh! Was it cause your girl caught you with another man?” Winters said and then frowned realizing what she’d said. Liberty began to laugh. Then Winters did too. 

“You l-like men?!” Derek said sounding surprised. 

“Sure, who doesn’t like to mix and match?” Jason told him. Garcia snorted hearing the amusement in Jason’s voice. 

“I can’t do that! Always have to keep it s-straight!” Derek told him in such a serious tone that it had everyone turning to him. 

“Hey, man, seriously, there’s no judgment here,” Garcia told him and everyone else nodded looking a bit soberer than they had when Jason first walked in. 

“Hey, hey! Ith’s’not what I meant! Ith’s’not! I’m betrothed! That’s all!” 

“Who the fuck gets betrothed anymore?” Jason said sounding offended. 

“Rich boys with parents who have lots and lots of money,” Liberty said looking at Derek a little wistfully. “They tell him what’s what. But he ran away and joined the Academy! And we love him! They can’t have ‘em back!”

“Here, here!” The others said and Derek beamed. 

“I love you guysss!” Derek said and smiled at Jason crookedly. “Ssspecially you roomy!”

“Right back at ya slick,” Jason said with a wink that had Derek grinning. 

Garcia nudged him and whispered, “Derek can’t stop saying how much he loves everyone whenever he’s smashed. He’s got a lot of time to make up for with you. So good luck with that.”

Jason snorted and Garcia chuckled. 

“So you cheated on your girl?” Crespo said going right back to the topic. 

“Oh, he won’t let it drop. You might as well confess,” Garcia said seriously. “Never met a drunk that could focus on something so hard and just forget everything the next morning. But this is better than him keeping the fucking subject on squirrels like last night.”

Jason looked at Crespo in the eyes. He leaned forward in his seat placing his cup to the side. He clasped his hands and nodded at Crespo. “I didn’t cheat. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“So what happened then? Why’d she hit you?” Crespo said.

Jason cocked his head to the side and then shrugged opting to tell the truth. “I may have implied she was into her friend and she was beside herself with shame at being found out.”

“So _she_ cheated on _you_?!” Crespo said and nodded. “And she hit you cause you figured it out?!”

“I’d hit you too for figuring it out,” Winters said while pointing at Jason’s chest and then his hair and then his ear. 

“What the fuck kind of backward reasoning—?” Jason was saying but was cut off by Garcia who shook his knee.

“Just go with it,” Garcia said sounding a lot more relaxed than before. “They’re so fucked up they think up is down.”

“I’m s-so s-sorry,” Liberty told him and sat on his lap. “Let me kiss your boo-boos.”

Before Jason could react to a girl sitting on his lap there was a tongue in his mouth. He’d had enough whiskey not to be completely sober anymore and so he didn’t immediately try to stop her. Instead, he grabbed her waist and placed the other hand on her back pushing her closer. Garcia started to laugh then so did the others while cheering them on. Jason sort of heard them as background noise. He wanted to put a stop to the assault on his mouth that he was incredibly into but only because he couldn’t breathe out of his nose. But at the same time, the mix of alcohol and Liberty’s tongue in his mouth mingled with the way she smelled and wiggled in his lap was sort of making it hard for him to think about things like breathing. He was able to take a lungful of air when she moved towards his neck. 

“Okay, okay,” Jason said as he caught his breath. He placed his hands on her shoulders to push her back because he sort of felt like he was taking advantage of her. She'd had a lot more to drink than he had. “I think you made me feel better.”

“Oh, I’m not as drunk as I made myself look,” Liberty said whispering in his ear sounding not at all drunk anymore. “It’s more fun if they think I am. And I’ve had my eye on you since day one. Now that you’re newly single, I have to take advantage of that. So, how ‘bout we take this party to my room?”

“Uh,” Jason’s mind blitzed with so many contrasting thoughts he couldn’t voice a single one. 

Next thing he knew, he was being pulled into Liberty’s dorm room. And then he was flat on his back on the bed. And lots of naughty things were happening that he was not in any shape, way, or form sober enough to put a stop to. Then again, he was lucid enough to know what he was doing and what was happening. And that had him smiling like an idiot cause this beautiful woman that he’d never looked at twice was treating him like she’d just hit the lottery. Though he was well aware it was the other way around. 


	12. You are reading the twelfth chapter

“What the fuck are  _ you _ doing on my bed?!” Winters shouted from the doorway. 

Jason woke up with a start and was sitting up so fast it made his head spin. 

“Wha-?”

“Don’t give me that innocent look,” Winters said pointing at him then shrieking in outrage. “Are you naked?!”

Jason looked around. Yeah, this was not his room. Too much girly shit everywhere. And when he peeked under the covers, it turned out that he was definitely al fresco. He held back a groan when he realized Liberty was nowhere in sight. But perhaps that was for the best. People were starting to huddle in the hallway trying to peer into the open doorway. 

“Winters, either get in and shut the door or step out and shut the door.”

“Don’t tell me what—!”

“People are watching,” Jason said cutting her off through gritted teeth as he threw the covers aside and sat at the edge of the bed. “If you want to keep making a spectacle and sully your roommate's rep, that’s on you.”

When Jason stood up, the door had slammed shut and Winters was no longer in the room. He frowned at the closed door for a moment. Then he found his clothes and put them on in a hurry. He decided it was best for everyone involved if he just went out the window. Once outside, he jumped from the window ledge and grabbed onto the edge of the roof before he pulled himself up. 

“Hutchings! What in God’s name—?!” 

Jason peered down from the roof to see his sarge in the next building’s window staring right at him. 

“Hey, Sarge, no time to talk. Time’s a-wastin’,” Jason said with a salute and ran to the other side of the roof to climb down to his own window. 

“Sam?” Derek said looking around the room having been woken by the sound of the window opening. Sam’s bed was empty and already made. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement. When he turned, Derek saw Sam coming in through the window. “What are you doing?”

“Avoiding Winters,” Jason told him and went to the door to peer out. Winters was still standing outside her door. Her arms were crossed and she was glaring at anyone who so much as looked in her direction. Then he saw Liberty returning from the showers. The two girls spoke in hushed whispers and after Liberty looked inside the room and gave Winters the all-clear sign, they both went inside. Jason shut the door and grabbed his things. “Gonna hit the showers.”

Derek rubbed his face feeling completely confused about the entire situation. He looked at the clock and groaned turning it off before the alarm went off in another minute. If he didn’t hurry, he was going to be late. He quickly made his bed and grabbed his things. He hoped that by the time his shower was done he’d no longer feel hungover. Why the hell did he drink so much? It was the same question he asked himself every weekend.

As Derek headed down to the mess hall, he noticed Winters scowling at Sam’s back. He rubbed the back of his head trying to figure out what Sam had done now. But then again when it came to Winters, all he had to do was breathe and she was trying to jam a verbal fist in his face. He grabbed his meal and made his way to sit with Sam. Garcia was there too. And he was smiling like he knew a big secret. Sam rolled his eyes and ignored him. 

“What the hell is going on?” Derek asked curiously as he took a bite of his food. 

“Tell ‘em, Hutchings,” Garcia said with a chuckle. 

“What are we in high school? What do you care where I stick my dick?”

Garcia was chortling now. “It’s not that I care, man. It’s that the Ice Queen has more of a reason to hate you now.”

“That makes absolutely no sense,” Jason said looking back at Winters. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the glare she was directing at him. It was colder and harsher than usual. He turned back around to look at Garcia. “The fuck is her problem?”

“You mean, more than usual?” Derek said looking at him askance. “I’d actually like to know the answer to that question. I mean, am I in any danger since we’re roommates or something?”

“Nah,” Jason said winking at him. “I got your back. Besides, I have no idea what crawled up her ass and died this morning.”

“You mean other than—“

“Yeah, exactly,” Jason said cutting Garcia off. “Why she care, anyway?”

“Garcia, are you implying that Winters has a thing—?” Derek was starting to say to a grinning Garcia who was already nodding. But Jason made a choking sound cutting off Derek’s question. 

“You’re way off. Nope, no, no way. That’s not it.”

“That’s exactly it, Roberts. Ignore Hutchings. He’s clueless,” Garcia said with a chuckle pointing at Jason. “She’s into him. The feeling is mutual. But they’re both in denial.”

“You’re way off base, buddy. Either that or you were dropped on the head one too many times as a baby,” Jason told him matter-of-factly.

“Uh-uh. I’m exactly right. I was there last night. And I saw something you didn’t cause you were too busy—“

“Whatever,” Jason said cutting him off. 

Garcia took the hint that Jason didn’t want to talk about his latest conquest. It seemed he was above kissing and telling. If it hadn’t been because Garcia already knew, he probably wouldn’t’ve even indulged Garcia in half of the conversation they had just had on the subject. Garcia kept eating in silence but he wouldn’t stop smiling. And Jason kept scowling ignoring the icy glare at the back of his neck. And Derek continued to look completely confused. 

Derek was certain that Jason had not hooked up with Winters the night before but when Liberty sauntered past their table giving Jason a flirtatious wave and Jason sort of stuttered to a halt—no longer chewing, scowling, or even breathing—without returning the gesture, he figured out what had happened. 

“With the  _ roommate _ ?” Derek hissed only loud enough for those at his table to hear. 

Garcia started to laugh out loud and Jason, well, he covered his face with his hands. 

“It’s not like I planned it,” Jason said and grabbed his half-eaten tray and stood up. He took his tray with him and moved to Winters’ table. 

“What?” Winters said with a raised eyebrow.

“Are we going to have a problem with this?” Jason asked, narrowing his eyes. He kept his voice low. 

“There is no  _ we _ ?” Winters replied voice low as well. 

“Yeah, by we I meant you but I wasn’t trying to single you out so blatantly.”

“And what do you want from me? I’m just supposed to forget you took ad—“

Jason held up a hand to stop her tirade. “Stop. I didn’t take advantage of anybody. If anything, I’m a notch on her belt. Don’t give me that look. I’m not the one being sexist here. You are. Talk to her. Don’t just jump to conclusions.”

Jason got up and walked away. He threw away what was left of his meal and headed over to the classroom. Winters ran a hand over her face and after a minute or two, got up to follow. 

The Sarge in charge of their class was running late. But the class was supposed to begin soon. Jason knew the drill. And he was well aware that he was class sargent for the week and that Winters was his assistant. He got up from his seat and made his way to the front motioning to Winters to follow. 

“Don’t even think of ordering me around like a dog,” Winters hissed once she was close enough. “I’m your assistant, not your lackey.”

“I fail to hear the difference between those two words,” Jason told her in a low serious voice. His brow was furrowed but he crossed his arms across his chest lest he was tempted to use them. 

They glowered at one another and without even realizing the entire class settled in their seats quietly without either of them uttering a word. It was only due to the fact that the temperature in the room had dropped from cool to ice cold in a heartbeat. Not to mention that the two hotheads of the class were currently glaring each other down like they were threatening to start a war and they definitely wouldn’t take any prisoners.

“Looks like this week’s class sergeants know what their doing,” Sarge said with a proud smile as he walked into the room. “Today, we’ll begin with PT and move on to CPR and first aid. Hutchings, Winters, have everyone dressed and ready for PT and at the gym in five minutes.”

The Sarge walked out of the room as Jason and his assistant shouted the appropriate yes, sirs.

“You heard the man,” Jason said and clapped his hand together sharply. “Gym, clothes, change, five minutes.”

“Yes, Sargeant!” the class said in unison standing up and heading for the door in a disorderly fashion. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Winters said. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Tell them. Don’t make me do all the work,” Jason said with a challenging smirk. 

“Line up!” Winters shouted so loud even Jason winced. 

The class quickly formed a line and made their way to the locker rooms. Jason and Winters were walking ahead of them bickering the entire way. 

Everyone looked at one another as they began to change into their PT wear once they were in the locker room. 

“Is it just me,” Crespo began, “or was I just thrust back into the time when my parents were getting a divorce?”

“Is that what that sick feeling at the bottom of my stomach is?” Derek said with a grimace. 

“Well, it’s that or the beginning of world war three,” Phillips said and shook his head. “Cause the first war world started with a single gunshot so…”

“We get what you’re saying, Phillips,” a few of the guys said in unison.

“Gentlemen, less talk-y more move-y,” Jason said as he rounded the corner then frowned like he had a bad taste in his mouth.

“More movie?” Garcia said with a smirk as he slipped on his t-shirt. “Are you still drunk?”

“Nah, fucking Winters told me to say that,” Jason said with a shrug. “I told her it was stupid so repeat it back to her every chance you get.” Jason’s grin was infectious. A few of the guys even snickered. “Now move out, single file.” 

Jason had a towel in his hand and twirled it around forcing them to hurry. He snapped it on Derek’s behind making him yelp. “Your shoes are untied.”

Derek quickly bent down to tie them and when he looked up, Jason winked at him and then twirled the towel once more. Jason followed after the last straggler and peeked into the girl’s side of the locker room. 

“We’re waiting on you, Winters,” Jason said and then stood in front of the line looking quite pleased. Until he noticed one of the cadets who was missing something important. “Lucas, where the hell are your shoes?”

“You said to move out, Sargeant!”

“Get back in there and put your goddamn shoes on! Anybody else needs their hands held to get their attire on?”

“No, Sargeant!”

“We only have one more minute, Lucas!”

“Coming,” Lucas said as he made it to the back of the line behind the girls.

“Winters, sound off!” Jason told her and she did as he asked albeit with a scowl on her face. They made it to the gym with thirty seconds to spare.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, Jason—who had tried to keep a smile on his face while Winters kept up a permanent scowl—felt a weight lift off his shoulders. At some point during the day, Liberty had found a chance to talk to him. She mentioned something to the effect of not knowing about him and Winters. It was a similar pitch to what Garcia had told him that morning. Jason didn’t have the patience for any of that nonsense so he didn’t reply. They could think whatever they wanted. He knew the truth. That was all that mattered to him. And if Liberty wanted to just be friends, who was he to say otherwise. She was just another recruit to him. He trusted them all to have his back during class and even in their spare time. But he’d never seen any of them as if they were part of his dating pool. He should have never succumbed to Liberty’s advances but he didn’t regret it either. He just had to be careful not to shit where he worked from now on. Because the way Winters had been looking at him since he woke up made him feel like he was a tool. Luckily no one outside their little group had found out about his little sexcapade with Liberty. And he hoped it stayed that way, not for his sake but for Liberty’s. Her reputation amongst the recruits and going forward at whatever precinct she chose to work was sure to follow. Knowing what he did in the aftermath that word hadn’t gotten out and he and Liberty were cool, put him at ease.

Jason sat with Winters while they ate dinner. Everyone else had given them a wide berth. The two of them went over a few things they messed up on and then they talked about how to do it better the following day. Because they had to face it, their fellow recruits were all assholes waiting for them to fuck up just so that they could hold it over their heads until graduation. Not that Jason rightly cared. He’d be first in line to give someone else a hard time. But Winters was taking it hard for some reason. The girl needed to loosen up. And he hadn’t helped by giving the guys ammunition earlier that day. But for some odd reason, she seemed to soften towards him by the end of the day. They spoke not civilly exactly but without the normal bite of hate they reserved for one another. By the time they finished eating, they had hashed out all they could and they each went their own way quietly.

“So what’s happening? Are they deciding who gets to keep who after the divorce?” Nevin said softly when their current class reps were out of the mess hall.

“What do you care?” Garcia said. “They're sending your ass back to the alley they found you in.”

Everyone laughed, though Nevin sniffed and looked away.

“I don’t know guys,” Derek told them. “It sort of looked like they were making up.”

“Well, they should be, Roberts. I talked to them both. Told them that last night was just a one-off and that it was all me,” Liberty said.

“Last night?” Crespo and Nevin both said at the same time.

“Yeah, cause we were all fucked up. Even Hutchings, he arrived at the tail end of the night,” Garcia said giving Liberty a meaningful look that conveyed not to say another word.

Crespo and Nevin looked at one another then at Liberty who was still looking at Garcia with a guilty look on her face. Then they both gasped and pointed at her.

“You homewrecker!” Crespo hissed making sure no one outside their table heard.

“I didn’t know!” Liberty said exaggeratedly but still keeping her voice low.

“In her defense, neither did I,” Derek told them with a shrug.

“I thought they hated each other,” Liberty said defensively.

“Sexual tension,” Garcia said wisely. “I called it since day one.”

“I figure it out when he threatened us,” Crespo said pointing at himself and Nevin.

“Yeah, I was slower on the uptake,” Nevin said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Good thing we didn’t have money riding on this,” Derek said with a goofy smile. That was all it took before they began to place friendly bets on how long it would take for the Hutchings and Winters to hook up.


	13. You are reading the thirteenth chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a few days early...
> 
> This chapter really got away from me. But I hope you like it.

Jason felt the walls closing in on him. He was aware that something wasn’t quite right. But he needed to keep moving forward. He kept his awareness on high alert as his eyes swept the hallways. He’d forgotten the priority of the mission. But at the moment he didn’t care. All he knew was that he needed to find a way out. He needed to get somewhere safe. He turned around quickly when he heard a crunching sound. As if someone had stepped on a piece of glass and crushed it further. Another noise had him rushing forward and carefully looking around a corner. The footsteps were coming from further ahead in the opposite hallway. He heard a laugh that his mind distorted. Then a door slammed. Jason rushed into an apartment that was next to the one the clown had entered. He moved slowly and quietly towards the closet. In the apartment over someone was there just behind the wall. They were shuffling things around. Then there was another laugh. He shook his head. It couldn’t be the Joker. It couldn’t. But just in case it was. He put his flashlight away and held his gun tight. Finger on the side not on the trigger. Jason took three steps back then rushed at the wall with a kick. 

“Aaaahhh!!” 

The scream sounded slow and distorted to Jason’s ears. A sharp ringing assaulted his eardrums as the noise around him became normal. Though his eyes stayed sharp and focused. He had his gun trained on the fallen asshole. The wall covered them from the chest down. Dust and debris settled around them. Jason wiped his face to clear it of dust and sweat so that he could see better. 

“Stay down!” Jason hollered when the body shifted. 

“Fuck. I’m not moving anytime soon. I think you broke one of my ribs,” said the fallen person in a female voice. Female. No accent. Not Joker. Not Harley. 

Jason breathed. Blinked. The dim lighting was hard to see through. But it looked like...looked like…

“Winters, are you okay?” Lucas said kneeling down beside her. His flashlight lighting her up to survey the damage. 

A few others entered the room, shining their flashlights around. Jason finally realized where he was. It wasn’t a warehouse in Gotham. He hadn’t been after the Joker. He was in a training simulation with his academy class. The objective was to find and incapacitate the other team’s captain. His team was up against Winters’ team. He’d separated at some point from the others. The entire ordeal was hazy to him. Jason put his gun back in his holster and ran both hands through his hair. 

“I’m fine!” Winters said and breathed heavily as Lucas helped her up. “Hutchings got me fair and square. We lost.”

“Winters,” Jason said feeling like an utter asshole. “I didn’t know- I wasn’t trying- Fuck.”

Jason wasn’t even sure what he was saying. 

Winters snorted. “It’s fine, jerk. No one said we couldn’t barrel through walls like elephants.”

She got a few laughs because of that comment. Someone clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and looked away. He’d broken her rib because he got lost in his head. That should not have happened. 

“Hey, no worries. It’s not like you’re Superman and can see through walls,” Lucas told him with a chuckle. 

The others laughed and joined in with their own comments. 

“Who goes through a wall?” 

“But it was a badass move.”

“You didn’t even see it!”

“Who cares? We won!”

“Hail Hutchings!”

“The  _ Wall Crusher _ .”

“He forgot to read her her rights!”

“He  _ said _ ‘stay down!’ Isn’t that enough?”

“I’m just glad I’m not Winters.”

“Same!”

When they made it out of the faux building, their instructors were staring at them. Lucas told them that Winters needed first aid. But after assessing her injuries, the instructors decided to debrief her before she left for the infirmary. Everyone gathered around. The instructors wanted them to learn from their mistakes. They explained how everything could have gone from bad to worse. They told them that out on the field there was no room for heroics. Someone fucks up and people die. Jason was commended on his quick thinking and for staying on target. Then he was torn down for separating from his team. They were supposed to stay in pairs. In times when that wasn’t possible, radio contact was to be maintained. Everyone had forgotten to use their radios. The next day they were going back to the classroom. Back to square one. It hadn’t mattered that Jason’s team had won. Too many mistakes had been made. But it had been their first simulation. And every class made mistakes on their first and second sometimes even their third run through. They were there to learn. It would be drilled into them. It needed to be so that they were field ready once they graduated from the academy. 

No one had noticed when Jason had separated. Jason couldn’t remember what he was doing before he had. But he didn’t say that. He didn’t want anyone to know what went wrong. That he’d felt disoriented and displaced. As far as he could tell, no one noticed or suspected anything. And he was going to make sure it stayed that way. 

_ “Hutchings, don’t worry about it. They said they’re bruised, that’s all. I just need to take it easy for a couple of days.” _

Jason couldn’t get it out of his head. He was lying on his bed and replaying the entire incident. He didn’t know when it happened. When he had snapped. One moment his head was clear the next he was somewhere else. His memory of what happened felt the way they had when he’d woken up in Dr. Thompkins’ clinic. What if he went back to that? He couldn’t go back to that. Not having control. That was a scary thought.

Jason got up and rushed out of the building. He wasn’t supposed to leave the academy grounds during the week. But he was trained by the best. He could sneak out unnoticed. He took off his charm when he knew there were no cameras in the area. He hopped on a train and headed to Bludhaven. 

He kept his head down but not necessarily hidden from the cameras. He wanted to be caught by them so the old man would think he was hiding out in Bludhaven and not look for him where he was actually hiding. Knowing the old man he probably already knew where he was. Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He ducked into an alley and made his way up the fire escape. He snuck into the first empty apartment he found. It was abandoned but that was what he needed. Tucked into the top shelf of the hall closet was an ancient phone book and a corded phone that the previous owner had no use for. He chuckled to himself. People always forgot about the things they considered useless. 

Jason got to work. He opened the wall above the phone jack and found the telephone line for the building. He tapped into it. Then he stripped the wires from the telephone line cord and hooked it up to the tap. He lifted the receiver and was rewarded with a dial tone. He grinned stupidly and dialed a number he knew by heart. 

“Good evening, you’ve reached Wayne Manor, how may I help you?” Alfred said on the other line. 

Jason swallowed hard. 

“Hello? Who is this?”

Jason covered the receiver and cleared his throat. 

“I need to speak to Bruce Wayne,” Jason said quickly. He knew he sounded different than he had when he lived there. He'd grown. He was a few years older. His voice was deeper. Alfred wouldn’t recognize him. And he couldn’t speak to Alfred. Not yet. Not after everything he’d done in Gotham. Not without Bruce saying it was okay. 

“May I ask who's calling?” Alfred said trying to sound polite but his curiosity was shining through. He doubted anyone who didn’t know him would catch it. 

“I’d rather not say over the phone,” Jason said lowering his voice to a whisper. He swallowed again. He didn’t think this would be so hard. But there was no going back home now. 

“Very well,” Alfred answered and excused himself as he went to fetch his master. 

Jason closed his eyes tight and tried to control his breath. 

“Hello,” Bruce said when he picked up the phone. “Who am I talking to?”

“Cut the shit, old man. And no names. I’m not on a secure line,” Jason told him feeling upset for no reason. He couldn’t help it. “I need your help.”

Bruce sighed heavily on the other end of the line.

“Tell me where you are,” Bruce demanded. “I’ll do what I can.”

“No, you don’t get to see me,” Jason told him and chuckled without humor. “I just need to talk. And dickface is off the reservation. So you’re my only option.”

Bruce hummed like he normally did when he was thinking. Giving a sort of verbal cue that he was still listening. 

“What do you need to talk about?” Bruce asked hesitantly. He couldn’t bring up anything that had happened. He couldn’t talk about the Red Hood. He couldn’t even tell Jason to come home. Nothing that could give a hint about their dual lives. 

“Shit. I don’t know,” Jason told him and huffed out a breath. “I fucked up today.”

“What is your definition of fucked up?” Bruce asked in such a serious tone that it made Jason bark out a laugh. 

“God. How do you do that?” Jason said but he didn’t expect an answer. He doubted Bruce knew what he meant. “You’re such a prick. But, no, old man, I didn’t mean it to sound like blood and gore. I just meant…” Jason sighed heavily and looked up. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

“Son—”

“Don’t!” Jason warned cutting him off. His hand tightened over the phone automatically. “Don’t call me that. And don’t act like you know what I’m talking about.” Jason breathed heavily trying to force himself to calm down. He heard Bruce sigh roughly like he was trying to stop himself from saying something incredibly stupid that would make Jason want to cry like the stupid kid he once was. And Jason felt like a douche for lashing out. He was the one that had called Bruce. God, he was such a piece of shit today. “Fuck. Just forget what I said. That’s why I called you. Because a part of me does think you know what I’m talking about. I mean, not exactly, but just a little. Enough to- Just tell me I’m not going to- That you’re not going to- Fuck! I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.”

“I want to help you,” Bruce said carefully. His voice lowering to keep the emotion out of his voice. But it didn't work. Jason heard it clearly. “I think I can help you. But it would be easier if we spoke face to face. If...you came here.”

“That’s not happening," Jason said quickly before Bruce managed to change his mind. "And just so you know, I put my toys away.”

“I know.”

“Of course, you do.”

Bruce sighed. “I think you’re doing fine, lad.”

“How would you know?”

“I don’t know anything specific. But the fact that you called me and that you willingly put your toys away, that speaks volumes. I don’t know what you did that’s making you feel like you’re losing yourself again, not unless you tell me, but talking about it helps keep you centered.”

“Do you talk to anyone?”

“Well, I do have a butler.”

Jason laughed. “You are such an asshole.”

“So I’ve been told.”

That made Jason laugh harder. 

“Alright,” Jason said and took a long breath. “Alright. So I was playing baseball with my team today. And I pitched wildly because I got lost in my head, forgot where I was, what I was doing, you know, hearing assholes hassling me that weren’t actually there. I lost my focus and I hit the batter in the ribs with the ball. I was told that they were just bruised but I feel like shit about it. And I, I don’t know if I can keep that from happening again. You know, losing my shit out of the blue like that. But I can’t let that happen again. I can’t.”

Bruce was quiet for a while. Long enough to make Jason think that he’d hung up. But then he heard the creak of a chair. Bruce had sat down and took a steadying breath. 

“Lad, I know you don’t want to hear this but it will happen again.”

“You know, you’re shit for counseling.”

“With time, it will happen less frequently.”

“How much time?”

“Everyone is different. Talking about it helps. But if it gets worse, you may need to seek professional help.”

“You mean, it’s going to get worse?”

“No,” Bruce said quickly. “It shouldn’t. Not if you have people around you to help. Before the game, when was your last episode?”

“I don’t- I wouldn’t-" Jason sighed heavily. “Not since before I think.”

“Before?” Bruce said puzzled. “Explain.”

“The last time I saw you. It felt like that. When I think back on it. It’s the same. Like it was someone else’s memories. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. But it hasn’t happened again. Not until today. And it didn’t last long. And I was still me. I just didn’t know what was going on. I thought I was in danger, I guess.”

“Lad, that sounds more like disassociation and less like PTSD, which was what I thought we were talking about.”

“What?”

“Lad, it’s going to be alright. But I think maybe you need to see a doctor.”

“A psychologist? You think I’m crazy?”

“No! God, no. But I’m not sure I’m qualified to help you.”

“Bruce,” Jason said quietly. “Tell me the truth. Do you think I’m crazy?”

“I don’t. What you experienced is…” Bruce sighed. “It’s normal.”

“Yeah, right,” Jason said and laughed. 

“It’s not a mental disorder, lad. That’s what I meant. I don’t know much about the subject.”

“You know enough. You know what causes it. So spit it out, old man. What is it you're holding back? What made this happen to me?”

“I can’t answer that, lad.”

“Okay. Then what normally makes this kind of shit happen?”

Bruce sighed heavily. “Brain injury. Sleep deprivation. Brain tumors. Trauma from abuse, combat, or a disaster.”

“Trauma. Like being beaten to death with a crowbar? Just as an example.”

“Yeah, lad.”

“And what helps it?”

“Therapy. Medication.”

“Therapy. Like a psychologist. Because I’m crazy.”

“Talk therapy. And yes, usually that takes place with a psychologist who knows what they’re doing. But that doesn’t mean you’re crazy, lad. Why do you keep saying that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it would explain everything I did. Before. I don’t know why- I mean I  _ do _ know why. But I don’t think my head was on straight.”

“I can’t answer that, lad. But I do know you’re not crazy. Not before and not now.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You explained your viewpoint to me. You were willing to cross the line because you wanted to help those who couldn’t help themselves. You believed it was the right thing to do.”

“But you don’t agree.”

“I can’t agree with that, lad. You know why.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you still believe you were in the right?”

“I don’t regret it, Bruce. I just don’t understand it. Not the beginning. I understand that perfectly. I would do it again if the opportunity presented itself to me. It was what happened in the end. I don’t know why I did that. That’s the part that gets fuzzy for me.”

“I see,” Bruce said slowly. 

“You’re disappointed,” Jason said and scoffed. “You thought you finally had an answer to why I did what I did. But now, you’re back to square one. Are you still going to stick to your your-not-crazy story?”

“Yes,” Bruce said easily. “From everything you’ve told me, I don’t believe you are.”

“But you’re still disappointed,” Jason said matter-of-factly. 

Bruce didn’t answer. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and hung up. He was disappointed too. Things would never change between them. Bruce sat on a mighty high horse. One that Jason could never reach. But at least he had an answer. He wasn’t going crazy. He could live with that. 


	14. You are reading the fourteenth chapter

By the end of the week, Jason was glad that he was no longer class rep. It had been fun ordering the other idiots around. But the leadership role didn’t really suit him. If you went by the simulation they had earlier that week, it would suffice to say he worked better alone. He didn’t have any problems working with a partner or on a team if necessary but he preferred to go at it on his own. Hell, taking over the Narrows and overthrowing Black Mask’s organization was a clear example that working alone worked best for him. 

That made him think about what he wanted to accomplish moving forward. After his phone call with Bruce, Jason was convinced that Bruce wasn’t actively looking for him. He had set up alerts through Oracle. But other than wanting to know where Jason was and if he had killed anyone else, he wasn’t wasting time following up on the information he received from her. Or at least that’s what Tim told him. Though Tim didn’t know that Jason had spoken to Bruce. He only knew that Jason was spotted in Bludhaven and the kid wanted to know why he’d been there. Jason simply told him he wanted to stretch his legs. That the manor received a call from a residential phone number that same evening wasn’t brought up. Not even Alfred had told Tim about the call. It made Jason worry about how much they were trying to keep from Tim and why. Jason simply didn’t want to say anything over the phone. But he would tell the little runt the next time he saw him in person. There was no reason for him to keep Tim in the dark as well. 

After dinner, Jason took a nap. He’d stayed quiet most of the meal as his fellow recruits joked and retold highlights of the week. Winters’ cheeks were red due to embarrassment they made her look feverish. Jason looked over at her and smiled. He still felt a little bad for having kicked down a wall on top of her. But Winters was tough and she didn’t let a couple bruised ribs slow her down. Not only that but it seemed that him kicking down the wall trumped the microwave incident. Well, until Lucas brought that shit back up. 

“Is there any academy property you won’t destroy?” Lucas asked with a crooked grin. 

“Are you considered academy property? Because I’m having thoughts of destroying you,” Jason told him in a serious tone. 

The table erupted in laughter at the comment since most of them knew Jason well enough to know he was joking and at Lucas’ subsequent, “Ey! Yo! Come on! I was fucking with ya!”

Jason didn’t head to the city that weekend since he had plans with his fellow recruits. He had already been forewarned that he’d be the designated driver. They headed out to a seedy bar that the others had chosen on previous outings because of its low prices. The fact that a group of academy recruits chose it as their go-to place for enjoyment wasn’t ironic at all. Nope. Not one bit. 

They left close to nine since everyone had spent the day studying. Jason was grateful since he was used to his naps in the early evening. He was still a bit groggy as he made his way to the SUV. One that apparently belonged Nevins. Derek shouted “shotgun!” and a few of the others groaned. The second and third-row weren’t what would be called comfortable by any stretch. Jason was the last one into the SUV. He picked a seat with the most legroom. Right smack in the middle of Winters and Liberty who had taken the second row all to themselves. He tapped Liberty’s knee and said: “scooch” then promptly sat his ass down as the girl scrambled to move out of the way. 

“Jeez, Hutchings. You almost crushed me to death,” said Liberty. 

Jason grunted in reply making everyone else but the girls’ laugh. He slid down until his head was in the perfect position to lean back with his arms resting on the back of the seat. He stretched out his legs between Nevins and Derek’s seats. Then he closed his eyes and said, “If I’m asleep when we get there, just fuck off.”

“Well, hopefully, he’ll be awake when he needs to drive us back,” Nevins said as he pulled out of the parking space. 

“He’s a night owl,” Derek said as he tapped Jason’s leg. “Right buddy? It’ll be fine.”

Jason’s response was a light snore. 

“He snores?” Winters said in alarm. 

“Not usually,” Derek told them and looked at Jason askance. 

“Pinch his nose!” said Crespo amusedly from the back. 

“Ew! I’m not touching that thing!” Winters said. 

Liberty put her hands up and waved them. “I’m not waking the dragon.”

“The  _ dragon _ ?” Garcia said. 

“My teeth are swords!” Liberty said and Crespo joined in to finish the quote from Smaug the dragon in the Lord of the Rings. “My claws are spears! My wings are a hurricane!”

“What the heck are you talking about?” Garcia said looking at them like they’d gone nuts. 

“I am fire... I am death,” Jason said quoting the dragon and surprising everyone before his head rolled to the side falling back to sleep easily. 

“Oh my god! He’s a  _ geek _ !” Lucas said and pointed at Liberty and Crespo who’d both laughed in glee at Jason’s words. “Why did you have to reveal such a foible?” He looked around at everyone. “We need to keep this a secret! We tell no one! Ever!”

“And you call them geeks?” Garcia said and facepalmed. “I’m surrounded. I want off this ride.”

“Sorry, bud, you’re good and stuck in the third row,” Derek said with a smirk. “There are no exits back there.”

Everyone laughed as Garcia groaned in defeat. 

Once they arrived, Jason looked at the bar’s sign through bleary eyes. The Muddy Duck was not what Jason had expected for its reputation. It looked upscale but everyone had said the prices of drinks were downright a steal. It wasn’t until they’d been three pitchers of beers in—Jason had only had water being the selected dd and all—and plenty of finger food that the reputation of the bar slash restaurant came to light. In the furthest table from the door with a backdoor easily accessible but locked to the outside sat a handful of mobsters. They were well dressed especially the guns but who they were and what they were up to was easy to infer. Within their group was a person that Jason knew very well and Jason accidentally made prolonged eye contact with him. Prolonged... as in more than socially acceptable Jason realized. 

_ Fuck! Fuck! Fuckety fuck! _

Jason quickly turned back to his present company who’d begun to laugh at a joke or something incredibly stupid that he missed. Something Jason would’ve probably laughed at too if he hadn’t been eyeballing Dick Fucking Grayson. He grabbed his glass of water and took a long sip. His eyes darting back to the mafia table and just as he did, Dick looked at him from the corner of his eyes too. Jason choked on his water.

Derek clapped his back a few times before he rubbed it in circles as his coughing fit died down.

“You alright, man?” Derek asked him as he leaned forward to look at Jason who had hunched in on himself.

“Yeah,” Jason said and cleared his throat. “Just went down the wrong pipe.”

Derek kept his hand on Jason, his hand resting on the opposite shoulder. He squeezed it a little and went back to talking to Garcia about whatever it was they were talking about.

Winters pulled out her phone and snatched a picture of Dick. Jason took her phone and deleted the picture before she could stop him. Thankfully the alcohol had already slowed down her reaction time.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jason hissed at her. She had been using the goddam Chirper app and was probably going to post the picture.

“Don’t you know who that is?” Winters said conspiratorially. 

“Yeah, I’m from Gotham,” Jason told her feeling annoyed. “He’s a dick.”

Winters began to laugh. “You act like you know him.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head. “No way. You’re full of shit.”

He pocketed her phone before she decided to snap another pick. Then he had to snatch at Lucas’ phone from across the table who was doing the same thing Winters had just done. The picture on the cell was of the ceiling thankfully. His chair had almost tipped back but Derek had righted it automatically before Jason sat back down.

“Don’t either of you know the meaning of self-preservation?” Jason said incredulously. Dick was sitting with fucking mobsters. If they ended up in the pictures… Jason mentally shook the thought from his head before it fully formed. 

“Dude! His dad is super-rich. If he wants someone gone, they’ll be gone. I’d listen to Hutchings,” Crespo told them. Jason shot him a grateful look.

“Why is he staring at you?” Lucas said and Jason turned to look at Dick who was looking right at him with a curious expression.

_ Fuck _ !

“I don’t know,” Jason said ducking his head and reaching for some wings just to hide his face from the other’s view. Dick should not be aware of him. Jason was wearing the fucking charm. His nose was crooked. His hair was the wrong color. So were his eyes. Did Dick recognize him anyway? Lucas and Winters were still looking at Dick. Jason elbowed Winters and glared at Lucas. “Stop looking at him.”

They laughed at his apparent distress which was so not like him.

A couple of hours later and the majority of his tablemates closer to being hammered, Jason had finished two entire water pitchers and had surreptitiously looked at Dick every few minutes. To his further dismay, Dick had been doing the same thing. And his bladder was angry at him. 

“I’m gonna take a leak,” Jason told Derek close to his ear as he stood and made his way to the back of the bar. He glanced at Dick who mid-sentence looked up curiously when he saw Jason walking past his table.

Jason went into the bathroom and automatically looked around and was glad to know he was alone. He walked up to the urinal, unzipped, and took his dong in his hand. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief when the pressure in his bladder was relieved. Then the door behind him opened. Someone walked in a few steps and just stopped. There was a break in the urine flow when he felt eyes boring into the back of his head. Jason automatically reached for the knife he had clasped in his watch pocket. His right hand still wrapped around his dick.

“You’re from Gotham, aren’t you?” Dick asked him.

“Seriously?” Jason asked gobsmacked without turning to face him. “You’re trying to talk to me while I have my hand on my motherfucking cock?”

“Sorry,” Dick said sounding sheepish. “I thought you were finished.”

“Did you hear me zip up?”

Dick chuckled and Jason heard him take a few steps back. He was possibly leaning against the door. “I can wait.”

“Yeah?” Jason said in annoyance. “How 'bout waiting outside?”

“Shy bladder?” Dick said sounding amused now.

“Fuck you!” 

Jason tried to finish but he couldn’t relax. He fidgetted and closed his eyes but he couldn’t go.

“Fuck!”

Dick chuckled lightly and walked up to the next urinal. He unzipped and relieved himself without looking at Jason. To Jason’s utter surprise, his flow started up again.

“Asshole,” Jason said looking at Dick with a frown marring his brow. 

Dick chuckled again and zipped up without looking at Jason. He walked over to the sink after flushing and started to wash his hands. Jason finished up and followed suit. He dried his hands on his jeans and looked at Dick expectantly.

“You remind me of someone I knew… know.”

“Uh,” Jason wasn’t sure how to reply to that.

“You seemed to recognize me,” Dick said looking at Jason carefully.

“Well, I’m from Gotham,” Jason said and shrugged. “Everyone in Gotham knows the fucking Gotham Prince.”

Dick rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “No, you were surprised to see me. Like you knew me. Personally.”

Of course, Dick would have caught that. 

Jason cleared his throat and resorted to his greatest defense—well, the second greatest… maybe—deceit.

“Well, I have had some very personal dreams about you,” Jason said with a smirk. And Jason wasn’t lying but the dreams mostly consisted of making Dick eat pavement. 

Dick blushed and it was Jason’s turn to chuckle. Suddenly, there was a cough from the direction of the door. Dick and Jason both froze and turned to look at who was standing there with exaggerated slowness it was almost comical.

“Der?” Jason said his eyes widening. “It’s not-”  _ Not what? _ Jason stared at Derek stupidly. Why was he trying to come up with an excuse?

“It’s none of my business, Sam,” Derek said with a shrug. “I just came to let you know everyone was ready to go.”

Derek looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow as if he was assessing him. Dick tried to smile in greeting but Derek frowned at him looking annoyed. Then he was just gone.

“Well, that was awkward,” Dick said and Jason nodded in agreement. Derek was normally friendly. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“What?” Jason asked confusedly and then mentally facepalmed. Right. He had just been flirting with Dick, sort of but not really. “Yeah, no.”

Dick frowned looking at the door and back then shrugged.

“So, your name is Sam?” Dick said with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah,” Jason said and pointed at the door. “And I have to go.”

Jason walked out with Dick following right behind him. 

“Maybe we’ll run into each other again,” Dick said without looking at Jason as he headed back to his table.

Jason looked at Dick’s retreating back and then went up to the others. When they saw him arrive they all stood up. Derek was the only person, other than Jason, that was sober. But that didn’t mean that he hadn’t been the only one who’d noticed that Dick had followed Jason into the restroom.

Winters sidled up to him and whispered-slurred, “Sho it wuz true, you d-di’ know...” She began to giggle and tripped on nothing. 

Jason rolled his eyes and wrapped a hand around her waist to keep her steady. Crespo was walking with Lucas while simultaneously holding each other up. Nevins was walking very slowly being extremely quiet. Garcia appeared sober but his eyes were glassy and his cheeks were flushed. And Liberty was chatting it up with Derek not even trying to fake being drunk like she had that night... Jason mentally shook his head. Nope. He was not going to think about that. 

“No one needs to puke right?” Jason said as he unlocked the door to the SUV.

There was a chorus of chuckles and giggles. Jason rolled his eyes and helped Winters inside then watched as the others piled in tripping over themselves and the others. Liberty smiled at him. Her eyes were half-closed. And then Jason realized, she wasn’t as sober as he’d thought. Derek sat in the passenger seat and Jason gave him a grateful look when he sat in the driver’s seat.

“I’m glad you’re sober because I don’t know my way back,” Jason said and fiddled with the radio.

“Figured as much,” Derek said. He swatted Jason’s hand away and chose a preselected station of classic rock.

“Well, alright, apparently _that’s_ what we’re listening to,” Jason said with a smirk and reversed out of the parking lot.

“Damn skippy!” Derek said with a grin.

But it wasn’t just the radio they were listening to on the drive back but also a chorus of drunk fools out of tune and mostly singing the wrong lyrics. Derek was laughing which made Jason laugh. And that was when he realized why Derek had chosen that station. 

When they arrived at the academy, the others made their way to the common room but Jason stayed outside to have a smoke. He pulled out his cell phone once he was alone and called Tim.

“Timmers,” Jason said after Tim answered the call. “Guess who I ran into tonight?” 


	15. You are reading the fifteenth chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started this chapter I had thought that the previous time-skip had been three weeks, but as it turns out it was three months. This one takes place about two months after the last chapter. It worked out fine though. I think.

_ **A small time-skip and we’re heading back to the rooftop…** _

Tim rushed to New York on his cycle. News of Nightwing was all over Chirper. He knew that it was Jason and he wasn’t going to mistake Jason’s Nightwing for Dick’s—like he had previously—but he wasn’t sure if anyone else wouldn’t make the same mistake he had. What if someone else showed up to say hello since Dick basically fell off the face of the earth and they wanted to see if he was okay? He couldn’t count on his two hands the number of calls he received from Dick’s previous teammates wanting to hear any word on the former Boy Wonder. Not to mention the utter frustration he felt that he didn’t have any answers. The worst part of the entire situation was that Nightwing’s current hero stunt was streaming live. Not only on Chirper but also on the news. What the hell had Jason been thinking? He’d been doing a good job of keeping Nightwing under the radar. News of Nightwing in New York had only rumor previously since there wasn’t any solid proof—i.e. photos and the such.

The last time Tim had spoken to Jason was when he’d called Tim to inform him that he’d seen Dick in the flesh and that he was as safe and sound as anyone could be. Even though he was deep undercover within the mob because Dick could take care of himself. When Tim sounded concerned about the fact that Dick was rubbing elbows with mobsters, Jason snorted and said: “There’s no way the Golden Bird will do a repeat of Donnie Brasco. And if he does, I’ll eat my own foot.” Jason held Dick at a high standard and he wasn’t the only one.

Tim knew someone would show up in New York to confront Nightwing thinking it was the long lost Dick Grayson. He needed to hurry before that happened to help Jason make a disappearing act in broad daylight. Not that Jason couldn’t do that on his own. Tim just felt better about being there himself.

Cass called him up just as Tim arrived in New York. He’d skipped a meeting at WE that Bruce would also be attending. So that meant Bruce was aware that Tim was not where he was supposed to be. And since Cass was calling him, Bruce had probably tasked her to find out why. 

“You didn’t go to meeting. Bruce not happy,” Cass said as soon as Tim answered the call on his Bluetooth. 

“I had something else to do,” Tim said a bit annoyed. It was usually Tim who covered for Bruce. Would it kill him to cover for Tim at work for once?

“In New York?” Cass said sounding more curious than concerned. 

“Are you tracking me?” Tim said in surprise. He shouldn’t have put it past the Bat to do something like that. If the tracker wasn’t on his bike it was probably on his suit. Tim was going to have to pull over to do a sweep.

“Not me. Bruce,” Cass said lowering her voice. It didn’t seem that she was happy about the accusation. 

“Why?” Tim said in a pitiful whine forgetting to worry about having offended Cass. 

“The news. Nightwing. He’s concerned for you,” Cass told him and she sounded a little worried about Tim as well.

“Why would he be concerned about that?” Tim said playing dumb. He was certain Cass wouldn’t hear the lie over the phone. Besides, she was better at reading body language than hearing voice inflections.

“Says he’s imposter,” Cass said and it sounded like she’d shrugged or maybe Tim had just inferred it.

“How would he know that? Unless Bruce knows that he’s not as dead as he told me,” Tim said cynically. 

He hadn’t confronted Bruce about having said that to him. And if it hadn’t been for Jason, Tim may have infiltrated the Watchtower just to use their satellites and Batman’s face detection software in conjunction just to find Dick wherever he may have been on the planet. Because deep down, he had never truly believed Bruce’s outright lie. No matter how good of a liar Bruce was, there were some things that Tim wouldn’t believe without proof. In the short time that he’d been Robin, he had already figured out that unless there was an actual body there was no guarantee that someone was dead. It usually meant that the person had faked their death. It had happened one too many times for him to ever fall for that again.

Cass sucked in a breath. Had she not known that Bruce had told Tim that? Not that it mattered. But it kind of did. 

“Says he’ll talk to you later,” Cass said in such a serious tone that she almost sounded as if she would make certain Bruce would adhere to his own words. 

“Is he listening in on the call?” Tim said curiously. Bruce could have easily told Cass to make sure he was patched in and simply wasn’t talking because he was in the meeting surrounded by other people. Tim could already hear Lucious asking whether or not Bruce was paying attention to what was being said during the meeting.

“No. I’m texting him,” Cass said not caring one way or the other about being used as a go-between.

“How the heck are you texting so fast? I can’t even do that,” Tim said incredulously. There hadn’t been much of a break in the conversation as of yet.

“Emojis,” Cass said and Tim could hear the grin in her voice loud and clear.

Tim couldn’t help it. He laughed. “I have an emoji you can text on my behalf.”

“No. Bad Tim,” Cass chastised. She loved Bruce far too much to ever side with Tim against Bruce. 

“Fine,” Tim said and sighed in resignation. He didn’t have the time or the patience to convince Cass that Bruce wasn’t infallible. “Tell him I’ll hold him to that talk next time I see him. For now, I got to go, Cass. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Movie night?” Cass said reminding Tim of their upcoming stake-out. 

The two of them had been busy in Bludhaven for the past few months. But it wouldn’t be long before they got rid of all traces of the Penguin’s takeover there. It took some time but with Captain Rohrbach’s help, Tim and Cass had put a stop to Penguin and landed him in jail. The Penguin didn’t have the same pull in Bludhaven that he had in Gotham and since Nightwing had made it a point to make certain that the entirety of city hall was clear of all criminal influence, the Penguin was having a hard time to get out of jail free of charges. All that was left was to get rid of his influence and product from the Haven before they could focus their attention elsewhere.

“Movie night,” Tim agreed and hung up. 

Tim pulled over and did a quick sweep of his gear not finding a tracker anywhere on his person. That meant that Bruce was using Oracle to track his phone. Well, that was an easy fix, Tim thought. He checked the footage online to figure out where Jason was at the moment and let out a stream of curses before hightailing it to his apartment. 

Tim ditched his bike and phone at his apartment and made his way to Jason’s location in his Robin gear. He mostly stayed out of sight as he swung between the buildings to make his way to his desired location. 

When he arrived at the skyscraper where Superman had taken Nightwing, Robin was winded even though he’d taken the elevator up. Fuck scaling that building. He wasn’t insane. And there wasn’t any way to grapple up to it since it was taller than the surrounding buildings. But the sight he came across once he made it onto the roof, took him by surprise. Nightwing and Superman were chatting amiably. Tim had to do a double-take to make certain he was actually seeing what he was seeing. Did Superman think he was actually talking to Dick? To think that Bruce had been right when he said that there were times when Superman was obtuse. Tim hadn’t believed it at the time thinking Bruce was just being petty. But now…

“Robin,” Superman said with a small wave.

“Uh, hi, Superman,” Tim said still reeling from the fact that Superman wasn’t as smart as Tim had believed he was.

“Replacement? What are you doing here?” Nightwing asked looking at Tim curiously. They hadn’t talked recently so he wasn’t aware if Tim had any business in New York or if he needed help with something.

“Wait,” Tim said and pointed at Superman coming to a realization that could potentially spell lots of trouble for Jason. “Did Batman send you?” Of course, Tim shouldn’t have put it past Bruce to send out a scout. But that still didn’t explain the friendly atmosphere.

“I wasn’t aware he knew I was even here,” Superman told him.

“Well, the two of you are all over the web,” Tim said in annoyance. 

“I figured as much,” Superman said with a small nod. 

“And he knew I was coming…” Tim said trailed off hoping he was wrong. 

“B knows you’re here with me?” Nightwing said a little nervously.

“So he didn’t send you to stop me?” Tim said to Superman ignoring Jason. He just had to make certain that Bruce wasn’t behind Superman’s appearance.

Superman shook his head and furrowed his brow looking confused about what Tim had just said. “Why would he want me to stop you?”

“Because he didn’t want me to talk to Nightwing,” Tim said with a shrug. Bruce was paranoid. Everyone knew that.

Jason scoffed.

“So he knows…?” Superman said and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at Jason a little worried.

“Knows what?” Tim said and looked at Jason for clarification.

“Supes knows who I am. He’s asking if B does,” Jason told him. 

“No, he doesn’t,” Tim said quickly. “He tried to warn me that you were an imposter but he doesn’t know you’re you.”

“Ah,” Jason said and shrugged then he grinned. “I just hope he doesn’t talk to Z anytime soon.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Tim said but fidgeted all the same. “So what now?” Tim was looking at Superman when he said that.

“Well, I go back to Metropolis and within the next few days I’ll make certain everyone knows that I vouch for the new Nightwing,” Superman said with a shrug. 

“Yeah, but are you telling Batman who Nightwing really is?” Tim said with a glare directed at Superman. 

Superman inwardly sighed. “Contrary to popular belief, Batman and I are not married.”

Tim gaped and Jason snorted then just began to chuckle. 

“You’re like actually dating?” Tim said in awe. He had never thought… even with all the rumors… but... Woah!

Jason laughed harder. 

“No!” Superman said defensively. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before looking at the boys. “It was a rebuff of any claim that we tell each other everything.”

“Oh,” Tim said and nudged Jason with his foot since he was sitting on the ground and still struggling to hold back laughter. “Sorry. But why would you say it like… that?”

“It’s a common saying where I grew up,” Superman said feeling so much older all of a sudden. Was there really that big of a generation gap between them? Dick wouldn’t have reacted like these boys at those words. He would have understood what he was saying right off the bat. 

“Seriously? That’s weird,” Tim said and looked at Jason who shrugged at him. 

“It’s not that weird,” Jason said and looked at Superman with a smirk. “He’s not woke to the baby boomer generation.”

Superman looked to the heavens for patience. He was very much aware that Jason had just called him old. And he was not a baby boomer. Not that he cared to clarify that point. If he did, he was certain Jason would just laugh about him being old anyway. Dear god. He thought the same thing of people his age when he was their age. Maybe he was old. 

“Hey!” Tim said but he was a little confused about what he was defending himself about. Then he sighed. “Ah, you’re right. I’ll look into it.”

Jason burst out laughing. Superman smiled at Tim with sympathy. 

“It’s not necessary, Robin,” Superman told him then floated up and was gone after a small wave and an added, “hope to see you boys again soon.”

Tim let himself fall on his ass. “I think I just insulted Superman.”

“Yeah. You did that,” Jason said chuckled. 

Then Tim turned and glared at Jason. “You are all over the web. I knew something like this was going to happen. Jeezus, what were you thinking?”

“That a little girl was about to get kidnapped and probably sold to sex traffickers. In broad fucking daylight and in front of a motherfucking crowd of petrified people!” Jason said giving Tim an even look. “Not on my watch.”

“Yeah,” Tim said and looked down letting out a breath. “They’re getting bolder. I don’t get it.”

“Neither do I. But I bet since I pulled off that stunt openly with local law enforcement and the crowds involved, they’ll think twice about doing something like that,” Jason said and sighed. “I don’t have time to investigate further. I still have a few more weeks left in the academy.”

“You’re going to see it through?” Tim said referring to the academy as he looked at Jason wide-eyed. 

“Yeah,” Jason said with a nod. “I’ve learned a lot. And I’m mostly curious about how that knowledge translates to actually protecting and serving. Seeing that most of my experiences with law enforcement were quite the opposite.”

“Huh. Well, alright,” Tim said with a nod then stood up. “You want to listen in on the interrogations. I’m pretty sure there’s still time. If not, I can hack into their system and read their notes.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I still have the rest of today and tomorrow before I have to get back,” Jason said taking Tim’s offered hand to stand up. 

“So Superman, huh?” Tim said casually. 

“Yeah. Threw me for a loop. I always thought that he had a bigger stick up his ass than B,” Jason said making Tim snort. “At the very least now I know that the league isn’t after the Hood.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, apparently B is a fucking control freak about Gotham criminals. They’re all off-limits to them unless they operate outside the city,” Jason said as he followed Tim to the roof access. 

“How did he figure out it was you under the mask? I mean, he’s weak to magic, right?” Tim asked curiously as he pressed the button for the maintenance elevator that was only used by management and maintenance so they wouldn't be seen by prying eyes. 

“Yeah. But apparently, my sense of humor was a dead give away.”

Tim gave him an odd look. When Jason explained what happened, Tim burst out laughing. 

“I wish… I could’ve… seen his… face,” Tim said as his eyes teared up through the laughter. “Inappropriate… humor. Hahaha!!”

“Don’t die, kid,” Jason told him though he was smiling. “Breathe.”


	16. You are reading the sixteenth chapter

Tim and Jason had missed the initial interview of the would-be kidnappers. But it didn’t take much for Tim to get a copy of the video. They watched it from the rooftop across the precinct on Tim’s holo computer that was part of his gauntlet. The thugs hadn’t given up any information. One of them was cocky and said his wife wanted a little girl for her birthday and the one they were going to take was cute enough. After more prodding by the officers interrogating him, he made a distasteful joke about his wife rejecting the gift and that it would become a gift for him instead. That got him a beating. One that insured no further questions would follow anytime soon.

Jason growled. They were going to either blame Nightwing for the injuries or other inmates to the DA, he was certain of that. Fucking cops! Why did he want to be one of them again?

“Idiots,” Tim said and shook his head. “Why’d they let him goad them like that? He was obviously holding back.”

Jason sighed. “It doesn’t matter. That man wasn’t talking. He didn’t even ask for a lawyer. I doubt he’ll make it through the night.”

“What?” Tim asked confusedly.

“He’ll most likely be killed just for getting caught,” Jason said and pointed at the next guy in the video. His forehead was damp. He kept trying to get out of the cuffs like he feared for his life. He couldn’t even get an entire sentence out before stammering nervously then clamming up. “I’ve seen that kind of behavior before. This- whatever this is. It’s bigger than just two thugs kidnapping kids for a quick payday.”

Tim stared at the man. The cops gave up trying to question him when he pissed himself. He hadn’t said anything useful didn’t even try to goad the cops. It was like Jason said, he was expecting to be executed. He just wasn’t sure who would do it or when. And the waiting period was torture for him. Good.

“So whoever’s in charge has people within the ranks?” Tim said gesturing with his head at the precinct. Why else would Mr. Pee-pee pants be so nervous while in custody? Unless he knew there were corrupt cops there.

“Yeah, like I said, this is big,” Jason said and stared at the precinct for a beat longer before he made a stay still gesture to Tim. 

To his credit, Tim stayed perfectly still and kept his face facing the holo computer screen but was actually looking at the shadows on the floor for a clue to what Jason must have noticed. Then he realized what the shadow that shifted a little was. An archer on the ledge above them.

“Is that an arrow you’re pointing at me or are you just happy to see me?” Jason said playfully but Tim could tell he was on edge.

“Can’t be both, can it?'' said the archer who Tim readily identified as Roy Harper aka Arsenal. “Especially when you’re wearing those colors. At first, I thought you stole them and I came to make you pay for disrespecting my friend. But now that I see the baby bird beside you, I have an inkling where you got the suit.”

“Alright, now that you have your answer, how about lowering your weapon? Before your punk ass hurts an innocent like the kid beside me,” Jason said looking at Tim and seeing him with his hand on his bo staff. He made another gesture to keep still. Jason was talking his way out of this mess. 

“I’m a good shot,” Arsenal responded in irritation. “Haven’t missed my mark once.”

“Well, sure. But that’s when you’re sober. Are you sober now, Harper?” Jason said goading him to force him to drop his guard.

“Fuck you!” Arsenal said dropping his arm. Jason took the opportunity to stand up and face him. Arsenal’s hand and weapon were right back up and pointed directly at who he considered a wannabe Nightwing. “Fuck. You look like him. Are you a clone or something?”

Tim had stood up as well and he was wondering what the heck Jason was up to because from where he was standing it looked like he was about to reveal his identity to Roy Harper a former Titan who was going solo as a hero for hire at the moment.

“I wouldn’t—” Tim tried to say but it was too late. Jason had removed the charm. He was still wearing the mask but his hair, facial features, and his build were back to normal. All him.

“Or something,” Jason said and tilted his head to the side. Maybe, Roy would recognize him. But that was a huge maybe. 

“Alright, now I know you’re fucking with me,” Arsenal said and pulled the arrow taut. “How’d you do that?”

“A simple magic trick. Courtesy of Zatanna,” Jason said and grinned. 

Arsenal’s eyes widened. He would recognize that cocky grin anywhere. “What the fuck?! You’re dead!”

“Not anymore,” Jason said with a shrug and put his charm back on when he saw the strength leave Roy’s arm. The bow and arrow were pointing down and no longer pulled taut. 

“How?”

“Hell if I know,” Jason said and shrugged. “One moment I was dead the next, not so much.”

“Just like that?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah. Then Talia Al Gul dunked me in the Lazarus Pit to fix my brain and I lost my mind for a bit. Ask the kid.”

“I’m not really a credible witness. By the time I ran into you, you seemed almost sane to me,” Tim said with a small smile directed at Jason. 

“Yeah, that’s really cute, kid,” Jason told him in annoyance. “Keep it up and I’ll stick an arrow in your ass myself.”

Tim chuckled and Jason withheld an aggravated sigh.

“What was wrong with your brain?” Roy asked ignoring their banter. 

“The way Talia explained it, I was pretty much a walking zombie. Just without the rotten flesh hanging off me or the need to eat brains and such,” Jason said and grinned at Roy’s expression of bafflement. 

“And you...believed her?”

“She kept precise notes and video footage. Kind of hard not to believe what she said when I saw the proof for myself.”

“Shit, that’s heavy.”

“Yeah.”

Roy jumped down to the roof the other two were standing on. He pointed at the precinct. “So, what’s going on there?”

Jason filled him in. Tim supplied some video footage. Roy lost his shit. Jason had to grab his arm to keep him from going after the men that were locked up and surrounded by cops. 

“I do have pull here!” Roy told Jason and yanked his arm out of the vice grip. “I can get in and talk to those idiots.”

“For what? So they can rile you up next? Gotta tell you, Arsenal, I know how you do things and I’m telling you here and now, your way is not going to work on these guys. Not unless you’re willing to play the game with their rules,” Jason told him and pushed Arsenal back a few steps. 

“What are you proposing?” Arsenal said curiously. When Jason raised an eyebrow, Roy scoffed. “I’ll play ball. I don’t care how dirty I get. But what about the baby bird?”

Jason looked at Tim. “You should head back to Gotham.”

“What? Why?” Tim said looking at Jason then at Roy and back at Jason.

“Replacement, leave now,” Jason said in an authoritative voice. Tim narrowed his eyes. “Believe me, you don’t want any part of this. If we get anything from the scum, I’ll fill you in.”

Tim didn’t move an inch. He didn’t say a word either. But Jason didn’t back down. He stared at Tim waiting for him to comply. 

“Robin, I promise, we won’t do anything Batman wouldn’t do,” Arsenal said and Jason looked at him like he was insane. 

“Like hell, I won’t!” 

“No, you won’t. Not in those colors,” Arsenal said then looked at Tim. “But that doesn’t mean he isn’t right. You don’t want any part of this.”

Tim huffed and stalked off. He didn’t understand what they were trying to protect him from. Because that was the only reason he was leaving. Otherwise, he would’ve argued that he could help. But if Jason was right, and this operation was something big, he had to let them work their angle without him. Besides, New York wasn’t Tim’s domain. Arsenal had been working there longer. And Jason had been patrolling the area for a few months now. For now, Tim would defer to them and go back to where he was needed. He had a case of his own he needed to get back to anyway. 

Once Tim was out of war shot, Roy turned to Jason and said, “What’s the plan?”

“We need a couple of minutes with them to get them to tell us something, anything,” Jason told him. 

“That’s it?” Roy said with a furrowed brow. Jason nodded. “Then why’d the kid have to go?”

“Because B knows he’s here,” Jason said in annoyance. “I don’t want that asshole in on this. Or for him to think that the kid and I are working together.”

“Okay,” Roy said slowly. He didn’t really care to get into their family dynamics. He had enough family drama of his own. “I have an in with the DA, let me make a call and see if we can get in the easy way. If not…” He left the statement hanging. 

Jason got the gist of it anyway. He stepped back towards the wall and pulled out his phone. 

** _Let me know the minute you get back. _ **

** _What for?_ **

Jason sighed. He knew Tim had taken his dismissal the wrong way. 

** _It wasn’t personal. Didn’t want dad on my case. Leaving it to the idiot anyway. I have class to get back to. _ **

** _Yeah. I get it. _ **

** _Talk later?_ **

** _Sure. _ **

** _Cool. _ **

Tim sent him a smiley face emoji that was sticking its tongue out. 

** _The fuck does that mean?_ **

** _Oops. It wasn’t meant for you. _ **

Jason stared at his phone and then he held it out to Roy when he finished his call. 

“Um, what am I supposed to do with this?” Roy said as he read over the recent conversation.

“How does this,” Jason pointed at the emoji, “mean that?” He pointed at the answer Tim sent. 

“Dude, are you serious?” Roy asked and when all he got from Jason was a flat look he sighed. “He was probably texting someone else at the same time. He didn’t mean to send it to you.”

“Oh,” Jason said and took his phone back. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

Roy started to laugh. “How long were you dead?”

“I have no fucking idea. But texting is a bitch. I thought I had a handle on it. Then this shit happened.”

Roy laughed again. “Alright, not to be rude and change the subject but I got us a window in. We just need to wait a couple of hours.”

“Great. I need a change of clothes,” Jason said and made his way to the edge of the building. “Want to come with? Or do you want to meet up later?”

“I have questions,” Roy said and followed. “About Dick.”

“Figured as much,” Jason told him. “But I don’t have a lot of answers for you.”

“Because you can’t tell me or because you won’t.”

“Because I don’t have any,” Jason said. “The kid was as much in the dark as you are. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told him when I got my first lead, don’t go digging into it.”

“I don’t follow,” Roy said through tight lips.

“Yes, you do. He’s in deep,” Jason told him. “He’ll come to you if and when he needs to. Until then, we give him space or we get him killed.”

“I need more than that,” Roy said angrily. 

“No, you really don’t.”

They stared at one another for a beat before Roy sighed heavily and looked away. “Fine. You and your family and all your guys’ fucking secrets are a pain in my fucking ass.”

Jason raised a brow at that comment but let it go. He didn’t care to know what Roy meant. 

“Ready?”

“Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, _ Nightfake _.”

Jason scoffed but pulled out his grapple gun and fired. He was swinging up to the next building with ease. Roy followed close behind. 

When Jason emerged from the rooftop entry of his apartment building wearing his leather jacket and holding the red Hood helmet in his hand, Roy did a double-take. He’d stayed on the roof waiting for Jason to return in a change of clothes. And he was grateful to know that he wouldn’t be going in as Nightwing just in case things went south. But now knowing that Jason was the Red Hood, that was just…

“Dude!” Roy said in alarm. “You do know that the Red Hood is a wanted criminal, right? And you’re just telling me—no! Showing me! That you’re him!”

“Are we going to have a problem with this?” Jason said as he slipped on the helmet.

“What do you mean we?! You don’t even seem to give a fuck,” Roy said in exasperation.

“Yeah, by we I meant you—”

“Hold up,” Roy said calmly. “It still doesn’t change the fact that a wanted criminal is going to walk into a precinct with me to interrogated wanted felons. You see how this could be a 'we' problem?”

“According to Superman, I’m only wanted in Gotham, so…”

“Wait, what does Superman have to do with all of this?”

“He said I’m cool to operate outside of Gotham so long as I don’t go on a killing spree,” Jason said with a shrug.

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?” 

“Give me your phone,” Jason said and Roy handed it over without a word. Jason took off his helmet as he waited for the person on the other line to pick up.

_ “Roy?” _ said Tim on speakerphone.

“It’s me, kid,” Jason said. “Can you patch Bruce in?”

_ “Are you serious?” _

“Yup.”

_ “Alright.” _

Roy was really confused about what was going on. They stood on the rooftop quietly as Tim tried to get Bruce on the line. The entire time Jason was leaning against the wall and was looking up at the heavens as if he was praying for patience. Roy was just feeling like a shithead. Who the fuck was he to ask for whatever the fuck he was asking for just to work with Jason? Yeah, he’d cleaned up his act but that didn’t mean that he was in good standing with the league himself. And if Jason said that he did, why was Roy pressing the issue? 

_ “Jason?” _

“Old man,” Jason said and let out an aggravated sigh. “I need you to tell my friend Roy you’re not going to come after his ass if he works a case with me.”

_ “Roy? As in Roy Harper.” _

Jason didn’t answer instead he looked at Roy until Roy realized he was supposed to do the talking.

“Yes, sir. I’m here.” Roy said feeling a little shy all of the sudden. Or maybe ashamed was the correct term. The last time he worked with the man, he’d really fucked up. Having allowed Slade Wilson to pull the wool over his eyes and make him think Slade was Batman had been the stupidest thing he’d done since the last stupidest thing he’d done. Not that the real Batman held it against Roy. But still, the shame lingered like a bad cold you can’t shake.

_ “You’re working a case together?” _

“Yes, sir.”

_ “Alright. Can you keep Jason in line?” _

“Oh, fuck you, Bruce.”

_ “Roy?” _

“Yes, sir?” Roy said nervously but when Bruce stayed quiet Roy realized he was waiting for an answer. “I mean, yes, I can, sir.”

“Fuck you too, Roy.”

“But, what about his lamster status?” Roy added quickly ignoring Jason’s temper tantrum.

_ “That’s been taken care of,” _ Bruce said then sighed. _ “Jason—” _

“Fuck off. We’re done here,” Jason said and hung up. “Happy now? Or do you need me to call Clark too?”

“Look, man, I’m sorry but I had to be sure. I have a little girl I’m responsible for—”

“Yeah, alright. I don't need your entire life story,” Jason said just wanting to drop the subject. He did understand where Roy was coming from. He wasn’t trying to be a douche. But he couldn’t shake how he felt after hearing Bruce’s fucking voice. He wasn’t ready to clear the air between them. Not yet. And definitely not over the fucking phone. “We cool now?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Roy said with a nod and gestured for Jason to follow after he took his phone back.

Jason put his helmet back on and followed Roy back to the precinct. They had two bozos they needed to get some info from.


	17. You are reading the seventeenth chapter

Jason stuck to the shadows while Roy tried to get the idiots to talk. But it wasn’t until the morons saw the Red Hood that they gave up the place where they were supposed to drop off the little girl in exchange for payment. Though they refused to give a name. Just a place and that was it. It was more than enough. Jason didn’t think that they knew who was behind the scenes regardless. What aggravated Roy the most was the amount they would get in exchange for the kid. It wasn’t much. Just enough for a fix or two depending on their addiction. Was that why these idiots took such a high risk? Were they that hard up on cash? And was taking a kid the easiest way for them to get cash? What the fuck? 

Roy felt sick and had to step away for a moment while Jason got more info from the men. Apparently, the Red Hood’s reputation preceded him. It was all well and good so long as they could reduce the number of abductions that happened in the city. At the very least, one little girl was able to stay with her mom instead of being taken and never being seen again.

“We’re done here,” Jason told Roy who was standing in the hallway outside of the interrogation room. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“Yeah, okay,” Roy said and went to inform the guard in charge that they were done.

“What did you find out?” Roy asked once he was on the rooftop. 

“It’s not just kids they want. Women, teens of either gender, but the biggest payout are kids under the age of ten.”

“Fuck Batman and everyone else,” Roy said through gritted teeth. “Those assholes are dead.”

“I don’t disagree but we need more info first before we start making heads roll, you get me?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Roy said and turned away, taking a deep breath.

“Hey,” Jason said walking up to Roy and grabbing his arm. “Are you going to be able to handle this?”

“Well fuck, aren’t I supposed to make sure you are? How are you so cool about this?”

“Like hell I am!” Jason said and forced Roy to look at him. “All I know is that if we don’t go about this the right way, we won’t save anyone else. I know we won’t end it tonight, but if we could at least disrupt these assholes enough to save a few more kids…”

“Alright,” Roy said and reigned in his emotions. “How do you want to play it?”

“First, recon,” Jason said and Roy nodded. 

“I’ll follow your lead.”

“Let’s hurry before word gets out the morons talked to the Red Hood,” Jason said and without checking if Roy was following went in the direction the men told them was the exchange point.

It was a pawn shop on a corner. The building looked unassuming. But that was what they wanted, right? Especially when the street lights were taken out and there weren’t any working cameras in the vicinity. 

“Well, what do you think?” Roy said as he peered over the ledge from the roof of the building across the street. 

“I think we need to get a closer look,” Jason told him and stood up.

“My thoughts exactly.”

They came in through the window in the back. There wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary. Other than piles of discarded personal belongings. Such as purses, phones, backpacks, shoes, scarfs, et cetera, et cetera. Discarded items from abducted persons. Very unassuming indeed. Criminals were idiots. But in this case, the owner of the pawnshop was probably another henchman. At the very least they knew they were in the right place.

Roy made a pained noise as he toed some shoes that belonged to young kids. “We need to call this in.”

“Not yet,” Jason said. He pointed to the front of the shop and drew out a gun. “You close up shop and tie up the owner. Get him talking. I’m gonna take a look around.”

“What’s behind door number one?” Roy said with a slight frown as he looked towards the back of the shop where Jason was heading.

“I’m about to find out.”

Jason made his way through the door and had to turn on the light on his helmet. The room wasn’t that big. It was mostly a boiler room but was also an access point to a basement. Jason could see the trap door entry against the far wall. He crouched down and had to work the lock on the handles with his lock picks to pry it open. Once he did, he was glad that he wore a helmet. Though the putrid smell was filtered. It was mostly the knowledge of knowing what that smell meant than the actual scent that forced him to move faster down the stairs. What he saw made him stagger back a few steps in horror. His hand hovered over the helmet where his mouth should be. If anyone could see him they’d think he looked ridiculous but he was horrified and had no control of what his body did. He shook it off, he had people to save. 

He didn’t care that the people were filthy and stunk to high heaven. He needed to get them out of the cages. The first woman stared at him bleary-eyed. It was then that he realized how quiet they all were. They hadn’t even reacted to his presence. As he took in the space around him, he could see the signs of a multitude of people being dragged down here. Signs of struggles. And the forgotten tools of the ones who subdued them. There was even a cleaning station where they probably hosed down those that were ready to be moved from the cages to their new owners. Fuck. How long did they keep these people here? There were eight in total. Three women and the others were teens. Both boys and girls. But there weren’t any kids. Jason wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Probably not. That meant they’d already been sold. 

Jason hurried to get all the cages opened. He didn’t want to think about the twelve empty ones that had recently been hosed down. His priority was helping the eight souls that were right there within his reach. He could and would help them. 

The front of the shop was separated from the back by a gate. The owner was just sitting there at the counter behind the display cases and hadn’t even noticed or heard the vigilantes entry. Not until Roy busted through the gate. When the man took one look at Arsenal he bolted. Roy knocked back a bolo arrow and released it catching the man around the ankles. His momentum made him fall face front and even so he tried to crawl to the front door. 

“Where are you off to in such a hurry, you fucking bastard?” Roy said in a low angry tone.

Then man actually whimpered but stopped trying to get away. “It’s just a job man.”

“Buying kids is just a job to you?” Roy asked in disgust.

“No, man,” the man said shaking his head which made him rub his face on the dirty floor. “No. I don’t buy them. It’s not my racket. I don’t steal them and I don’t sell them. The man upstairs, he’s the one—”

“What man upstairs?” Roy interrupted.

“I don’t know his name. But he lives on the top floor. He’s the one who buys the kids and sells them. I swear! I don’t have anything to do with that!”

That was all Roy needed to hear. He punched the guy to knock him out then zip-tied his hands behind his back. 

Roy was about to head back to find Jason when Jason called out to him.

“Arsenal! Call 9-1-1. We need ambulances! Lots of ambulances!” Jason said and ran back where he came from.

Roy didn’t wait to hear more, he pulled out his phone to place the call. As we waited for the operator to answer he made his way through the door Jason had gone through. 

“Hood!” he called out when he didn’t see anything but darkness.

“Down here!” Jason’s voice was coming from downstairs. “Basement!”

Roy found the stairs after turning on the light on his phone. He carefully made his way down and had to cover his mouth. The smell wafting towards him was worse than a gas station bathroom after a shit storm. And then he stopped short. There were people in cages, mostly women and teens. 

“They’re drugged to the gills,” Jason said softly. He was gently taking the people out of the cages. Roy hurried to help. “Be careful, they’re atrophied.”

“What’s in the bowls?” Roy said seeing that every cage had two bowls one with water and the other, Roy couldn’t make it out.”

“It looks like dog food,” Jason said through gritted teeth. “I’ll help them out here. You go upstairs and wait for the ambulances. Make sure to warn the paramedics about the smell.”

Roy stood up feeling grateful. His eyes were tearing up and it was all he could do to keep himself from gagging. The conditions the people were in were deplorable. The smell alone was unbearable. The people were sitting in their own feces for fuck’s sake. 

By the time Roy made it to the stairs, he heard the sirens.

“Hey, Hood,” Roy called out to him. “They’re almost here but we need to get up to the top floor of this building before the guy splits.”

“What guy?” Jason asked as he gently lay another teenager on the floor next to the others.

“The one who’s running this operation, that’s who,” Roy said and ran to the front door to direct the paramedics to the basement. 

When Roy returned to the basement, Jason was gone. 

Roy gave the paramedics as much information as he could before he found his own way upstairs. By the time he arrived at the top floor, Jason was in the midst of a fight with some weird guy wearing all black. He was wearing weird goggles and had blades strapped to his sides. Nothing was stopping him and it didn’t look like the pummeling he was receiving from the Hood had any effect. 

Roy shot an arrow into the man’s thigh. But whoever this person was just kept going as if he didn’t feel it. Seeing that Jason pulled out his gun and shot the man in the chest. All it did was slow him down. He shot him again. The man stumbled back a step before he righted himself up and threw a blade at Roy before kicking up at Jason who retreated enough to shoot the guy in the head. 

The most surprising thing happened. The man began to wilt and then he fell bonelessly onto the ground. His suit deflated and a black ooze seeped out.

“What the fuck? Did he just melt?” Roy said exasperated.

Jason just stared at the pile of clothes. He put the safety on his gun and then looked at it sideways as if the answer to what had just happened could be found written on it. But there were no answers. Nothing could explain a man transforming into black ooze. Then they both braced themselves when they heard the sound of something scraping on the ground. 

Someone was further in the apartment. Roy and Jason ran towards the back room just to see a wall closing back up. Jason signaled Roy to move back into the hallway before he set some charges and then walked back outside the room. They waited until the wall blew before rushing back in. There was a staircase that took them all the way down into the sewer tunnels. The man had fled and was nowhere in sight. There was nothing to go on except a cracked white mask that had been left behind. The inside had an hourglass image on it. The hourglass was cracked, all the sand at the bottom, the color red outlined the cracks made it appear as if the hourglass was...bleeding?

“What is this?” Roy asked.

“I have no fucking idea,” Jason said and shook his head. “But we have to find out who owned that apartment and what the fuck kind of weird cult this is. Because I’ll bet my left nipple that the guy who just ran off isn’t working alone.”

“Yeah,” Roy said scratching his head and making his way back up the stairs. “I need to touch base with the cops and inform them about what we found out.”

“Yeah, do that. But mark my words, they’ll drop the investigation after a week,” Jason said not having moved from where he was. 

“I know,” Roy said. He knew Jason was right. He’d have to conduct his own investigation and find his own leads. He wasn’t dropping this one until he unraveled the entire mess. He just hoped there weren’t more places like this with people in cages all over the city.

Roy didn’t hear from Jason again until the following day. They compared notes and Jason told him he had to leave but he’d be back the following weekend. Roy wasn’t too happy about that but understood nonetheless. He looked into the pawnshop and the name on the apartment. The pawnshop owner never changed his story saying he feared for his life and that’s why he helped the man who was abducting people. He gave a description but there wasn’t anything about the composite drawing the police came up with that helped to find the man in question. Not even with wanted posters put up in the area or in the paper. No one called in with tips. No one seemed to know who the guy was. Even the name on the apartment lease was a dead-end and just like Jason had said, the detectives dropped the case when they couldn’t find any leads. 

Roy wasn’t going to give up. They had saved eight people that night and Roy had a bad feeling that there were more lives at risk. The worst part was that none of his sources knew anything. And even though in the months that followed he was able to solve a few missing people cases, those people hadn’t been in the same situation as what he and Jason had come across. He broadened his search and came out empty-handed. Jason too ended up with zero results. There was nothing for either of them to do other than wait to see if anything similar came up again. It was frustrating as hell but one thing was certain, something like that couldn’t stay in the shadows for much longer sooner or later it would be forced into the light. When that moment came, Roy would be ready.

* * *

Whenever Roy had time, he looked back into the case he’d worked with the Red Hood. Though they stayed in contact, they hadn’t worked together again. Jason only came out to the city on weekends to patrol as Nightwing. Sometimes it was only every other weekend. Whenever Roy found something of merit, he included Jason in his findings. But what he’d stumbled across this time around, he wasn’t sure if he should inform Jason. 

Roy had looked into the pawnshop. Turned out the false wall and staircase had been there since the building was erected by the original owner back in the 1800s. Though at the time it wasn’t a false wall and hidden staircase. But it was removed from the blueprints during a remodeling in the early 1900s by the newfound owner. And now that the access has been sealed off by the fire department it is deemed a moot point. But it the past the owner who remodeled the building not only lived in it but worked downstairs in the pawnshop. The pawnshop was a deli back in his time. The basement, however, became a speakeasy. A piece of history that had been long forgotten. Though had been well documented. As well as the picture of the owner who had disappeared during a raid. 

When Roy saw the picture of the owner it sent a chill down his spine. Because the picture of the owner was almost identical to the composite drawing the police had drawn up. They appeared to be the same age. Which was impossible. Though not improbable to Roy since he’d seen a thing or two during his time as a Teen Titan and subsequent time as a Titan. It was possible that the man he was looking for was only a relative of the past owner but something in Roy’s gut told him that it was the exact same person. He also had a feeling that if this person was as old as he thought he was perhaps Ra’s al Ghul knew a thing or two about him. And if that was the case, he had to question the old fart in order to find the man he was looking for to find out whole else was involved in his scheme to abduct people and keep them in fucking cages like animals. And of course to make him pay for what he’d done. But for him to do any of that he had to call the one person he’d been staying clear from. Oliver Queen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added the last three paragraphs because I didn’t want readers to think that the case was just dropped. Roy took it, which is what Jason had wanted all along. He has his hands full at the moment with the Academy and moonlighting as Nightwing. But since this story is about Jason and not Roy, whatever happens, it will happen off-screen so to speak. Just to clarify a few things, Ra’s al Ghul’s having any information is only a hunch. Oliver Queen will not allow Roy to join him in speaking with the man and will further alienate Roy. But it will turn out that Ra’s has no connection to the case or the man involved. On a further note that is outside of Roy’s reach or knowledge: The man in black was obviously a talon though he wasn’t one that was created by the court of owls. And the broken mask with the ominous hourglass depiction was a clear sign (one I made up, of course) of the court cutting ties with the man Roy is looking for and furthermore marking him for death. This baddie created his own talon and was abducting people for his own nefarious reasons. The missing children had nothing to do with him. That was all the doing of the pawnshop employee. And that is something that Roy will eventually figure out. If I had the time, this is where I would have a spin-off story to write with Roy as the protagonist. Though he will return to this story at a later date. 


	18. You are reading the eighteenth chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me an entire month to finish writing this chapter. Wasn't sure how to transition from the last incident forward. I'm happy with it and just finished editing it so I decided to post it one day early. I just hope I can get the next chapter finished before my next posting in two weeks. Wish me... muses??? Does that even make sense? Sorta-ish? Anyway, hope you enjoy that chapter... Next chapter, GRADUATION DAY and more.

Being away from Gotham for five months wasn't as bad as Jason thought it would be. He learned plenty while at the Academy. And soon he would be a certified Peace Officer in the State of New York. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. He was looking forward to graduating but he still wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to walk a beat in polyester. He especially didn’t want to spend any of his precious time surrounded by crooked cops who expected him to have their backs. He’d seen some of what they were up to on more than one occasion while he patrolled as Nightwing. But whatever they were doing, Jason didn’t have time to look into it. Not yet. Maybe being in the fold would help to see who was actually pulling the strings. For now, his concentration was on...graduating. And well, something else that caught him off guard.

It all started with an accident Jason had during training in Arrest Control. They were taught to undergo all training in a safe and professional manner, and they took preemptive steps to avoid injuries. Given that they had to conduct their drills as realistic as possible. Jason had experience in such drills. Though not the training he’d been receiving as of late. Even so, he knew what to expect and how to go about dealing with an attack. He was not shocked by confrontation whether staged or not like his fellow recruits were.

The drill they were taking part in had Jason on top of one of his classmates. Derek’s objective was to knock him off and to get to his feet. The drill was only supposed to take ten minutes to complete. At the last minute during a particular move to get away on Derek’s behalf, the two landed funny and Jason heard a snap. It was Derek’s collar bone. Jason felt like shit. It wasn’t the first time he’d hurt someone during a training exercise. He was just happy that he hadn’t lost his head during this one. But, he still felt like it was his fault.

Jason accompanied Derek in the ambulance to the hospital. The others followed to show support. But it didn’t take long to assess the injury and release Derek with the proper medication and brace. He would not fully heal for a month, but the good news was that he would be able to complete the academy. At least with that information on hand, Jason could be relieved of some of the guilt he was feeling. He’d thought that Derek wouldn’t be able to finish the course so close to graduation.

Jason stayed close to Derek after that in order to help him out whenever he needed it. They had become friends since the beginning of the academy so no one really noticed Jason hovering, not even Derek. It worked in his favor, he didn’t want to make Derek think he’d only been helping him out of guilt. But he never would have believed that Derek would have misunderstood his behavior.

It all came to a head after an eight-hour class on sexual assault and crimes against children. After sitting through the presentation and instruction, Jason was angry. Everything he’d witnessed as Robin and growing up in the Park Row district called Crime Alley came to his mind as well as all the anger he felt towards those who committed said crimes. And he knew it was still happening, not just in Gotham and New York but everywhere. He hadn’t forgotten but it hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind. He’d recently come across an abduction ring and he’d left it to Roy to deal with because he’d wanted to finish the Academy. He was angry at himself for making such a selfish decision while there were innocent children and women that needed to be protected. 

Derek sensing Jason’s distress came to sit beside him on his bed. He placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder and squeezed it as he said, “It’s these types of crimes that motivated me to join the academy. I want to work my way into investigations, to be the person that catches these predators. I know there isn’t a lot we can do to stop this behavior from happening to innocents but I want to be part of the solution that removes individuals like this from society.”

By the end of his speech, Jason was staring at Derek in awe. He realized that what Derek said was true, there wasn’t anything they could do to stop these crimes from actually happening. But if more people were held accountable for their actions, less would be willing to partake in such behavior. It was something even Bruce had tried to explain to him. Having had the class they did and being taught what to do when they came across these types of crimes, those who were willing to put what they’d learned into practice could definitely be part of the solution. It wasn’t a waste of his time to be sitting in the academy, he’d learned so much that he could put into use not only as a cop if he chose to pursue that career but also during his patrols. Now he had the knowledge necessary to help keep those assholes behind bars.

“Thanks,” Jason told him sincerely. “I really needed to hear that.”

Derek nodded but neither of them moved nor said anything further. They simply kept eye contact until Jason smiled slightly and Derek moved forward. Jason didn’t notice or maybe didn’t mind. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t moved away or turned away when he saw Derek closing in until his lips were pressed over Jason’s. He didn’t stiffen or react in any negative way. He allowed the kiss and when Derek moved back to look at him again, Jason nodded slightly without thinking and Derek moved in to kiss him again until they were laying on Jason’s bed making out like it was the first make-out session either of them had experienced. And maybe it was, well, of the same-sex variety. Jason had never kissed a guy before and he was almost certain that Derek hadn’t either. And Jason couldn’t help but think about what had led to this or why he wasn’t grossed out about kissing a guy.

As he remembered the little gestures, small smiles, a touch here and there, Jason flipped them over and took charge of the kiss. He’d felt comfortable around Derek since day one. Trusting his roommate who quickly became his friend was easy. Teasing him after training with a slap on the ass or a half hug to celebrate whenever something went their way was commonplace. Physical contact between them came easy to Jason as were the winks and easy smiles that bordered on flirtatious. If Jason was honest with himself, he’d been flirting with Derek ever since a few weeks after commencing the academy. He just hadn’t been completely aware of it and now that he was, so much of what happened between them made perfect sense to him. 

When Jason pulled away, he caught Derek’s change of expression from being on cloud nine to slightly panicky.

“Der, what’s wrong?” Jason said moving off of Derek and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Derek scooted up on the bed and rubbed his face. “I’m sorry, I just…”

Jason looked at him and clasped Derek’s knee. “Hey, calm down. You can’t get pregnant from a kiss.” Jason smiled hoping to ease the tension.

“Yeah,” Derek said with a half startled chuckle then looked away. “That’s good to know.”

“So what’s eating you?”

“Uh,” Derek said looking at Jason feeling a little braver. “Remember when I said before about being betrothed…”

Jason nodded. 

“Well, I still am so we can’t…” Derek gestured awkwardly to the bed. “You know.”

“Fuck,” Jason said and let out a breath as he stared at the floor. 

“Yeah, I suppose,” Derek said with a slight nod. 

“What?” Jason said, looking at Derek. “No. I meant that’s bullshit.”

“I know it’s outdated but, it’s my family and I want...I do want that,” Derek said with a shrug. “I just sort of want you too. And now that it seems you want me too. I don’t know…”

“Hey,” Jason said cutting him off and clapping his shoulder. “Der, it was a kiss. Wasn’t supposed to be life-altering.”

“Sam, it wasn’t just a kiss for me,” Derek said firmly. 

“Well, alright. Good to know,” Jason said and smiled. Derek smiled back. “But you have a life planned out. And you said you actually wanted that. So that doesn’t really leave room for the, uh, this.”

“Actually,” Derek said looking at Jason a little hopeful. “As long as it’s not life-altering—”

But Jason cut him off by kissing him again. He didn’t need to hear the rest to understand that so long as neither of them actually fell in love, they were good. And Jason couldn’t really see that happening not with all the other shit in his life. So this was actually sort of perfect. 

However, perfect wasn’t always what it seemed. Because even though Jason was having fun in the sheets with Derek, his mind was turning the situation over every now and then. He questioned his sexuality to the point that he tested it by going to a gay bar only to find out that he wasn’t gay. He was just really attracted to Derek for some unexplainable reason. But the more he thought about it the more he understood it on some level. He decided it didn’t have to mean anything other than he was attracted to Derek due to some chemical attraction and nothing more. Because there was one thing Jason was certain of and that was that he was not falling for Derek emotionally. And yet, his paranoia reached new levels and he suspected some sort of sabotage a la Poison Ivy. So he switched all of Derek’s personal products with new ones that he knew were not altered with any sort of pheromones and the results were the same. He was very much attracted to Derek. He decided he could live with that and let the matter finally drop. 

Jason couldn’t help but blame Bruce for his unhealthy obsession of wanting to know the everything about any given situation he found himself in. Then he mentally kicked himself in the pants for not only thinking about Bruce but realizing he was slowly becoming him. And wasn’t that a revelation all on its own. No one wanted to be their parents but in a way, Jason still looked up to Bruce and still wanted Bruce back in his life. Just without all the judgment and scorn. Would that ever happen? It seemed like Bruce wanted to work things out between them the last few times they’d spoken. But Jason wasn’t ready for that. Especially not when Bruce only decided that after he’d realized that Jason was not doing what he didn’t want him to do. And that still rankled Jason. Because he wasn’t not doing it for Bruce’s benefit but for his own. Then he decided not to think about that because that was a rabbit hole of unresolved emotional baggage that he didn’t want to go down.

The last two weeks of the Academy were a blur to Jason. The week before he was tased, which was mandatory. Not that he’d never been tased before. But it still hurt like a son of a bitch. Though it was funny to see the others being tased as well. They went through their last mock crime scene investigation and a wet lab where various deputies and staff proceeded to get drunk in a controlled environment in order for the recruits to practice DUI identification skills. But now they were in the process of preparing for the graduation ceremony. Jason wasn’t sure if Tim would even care but he figured he would let the runt know after he took his POST certification test and found out he passed. In less than 72 hours he’d have his badge.

** _Yo, short stuff._ **

** _Way to focus on my insecurities, asshole._ **

** _Are we a little peeved at someone other than me?_ **

** _*Sigh* Forget it. Did you need something?_ **

** _Just wanted to pass along some good news. _ **

** _But maybe now is not a good time?_ **

** _Let’s hear it. _ **

** _Well, if you insist._ **

** _I do._ **

** _Passed the POST certification. _ **

** _Graduation is in T-minus 57 hours._ **

** _We need all the deets! _ **

** _Time! Location! Dress Code! _ **

** _To know how many hunks will be there!_ **

_ **What the fuck** _

** _Sorry. Cassie was reading over my shoulder. Stole my phone. _ **

** _But yes, when & where, please. Disregard all other inquiries._ **

** _Is she coming too?_ **

** _YES!!! OBVS!!!_ **

** _Dear god_ **

** _Sorry. Sorry._ **

** _But I can’t force her to stay behind._ **

** _Ah. You two a thing now?_ **

** _NO!!!!_ **

** _Okay then._ **

** _As you can tell. She’s a handful._ **

** _  
Ignore Timmy-kins. I’m a catch!!_ **

** _Yeah, I can see that._ **

** _Tim’s Ahab in this scenario._ **

** _Exactly._ **

** _  
What the fuck does that mean?! _ **

_ **Oh, witless girl, you have much to learn** _

** _Shut up or I’ll break your nose again._ **

** _I’d like to see you try._ **

** _Jesus. Thanks for that. She almost broke my phone._ **

** _Not my fault she’s crazy. _ ** ** _  
_ ** ** _But I’ll send you the info and such._ **

** _Cool. See you in a couple of days. And congrats!_ **

** _Thanks, kid._ **

Jason was smiling when Derek walked into their room and asked what was so funny. Jason shook his head and said he’d just invited Tammy since Derek hadn’t known Tim by his given name. 

“Your ex? Didn’t know you two were on speaking terms,” Derek asked curiously. 

“Uh, we’ve moved into the frenemy zone?” Jason said with a grin thinking of Cassie. He couldn’t very well say he’d invited his almost brother since Sam was an orphan and as of yet hadn’t mentioned any friends other than Tim aka Tammy.

“Not surprised. You’re still sporting the evidence of your last encounter on your face,” Derek said with a slight laugh as he sat on his bed. 

Jason laughed while he rubbed his nose. Zatanna’s charm had sure come in handy. “What can I say? I needed the upgrade. Now, I can look extra intimidating while I read someone their rights.”

Derek started to laugh. “You were intimidating enough as it was. But yeah, I can see it playing out like you just called it.”

“You thought I was intimidating?” Jason asked with a tilt of his head. Derek had always treated him differently from day one. He never seemed to be on edge around him like all the others did. So to hear that from the guy all these months later was surprising.

“Uh, you did throw a microwave out the window,” Derek said with a shrug. 

Jason looked away sheepishly. Yep, he’d definitely done that. He’d forgotten how much of a hothead he’d been when he first stepped into the academy. If it hadn’t been for the sarge he’d probably been kicked out of the academy. All that would’ve accomplished was to double all anger and confusion he was feeling at the time. He’d been trying to keep all those feelings from breaking out and causing havoc like they had before he’d woken in Leslie’s clinic. Keeping himself from going down that path again was not easy. The academy had helped him out in more ways than he could possibly explain. Calming him down, allowing him to see things from a different perspective, and all the structure within the walls helped temper his feelings to a very manageable point. His friendship with Tim, Derek, and the others in the academy only helped further. And for that Jason was grateful.

“Figured there was a lot going on in the inside if it ended up exploding outwardly,” Derek said as he sat down and looked over at Jason. “But you seemed like a decent guy. More so that the other yahoos around here.” Derek offered him an easy smile. “And I was right.”

Jason smiled back and let out a short huff of a laugh. And right then he decided, he wanted to give the cop thing a try. Who knew, maybe it was another step in the right direction.


	19. You are reading the nineteenth chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this chapter is late. It's short and fun (I think) but I wanted to post something. Not sure when I'll be able to post the next chapter. I fell behind on my writing... ugh. I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Wash your hands and for the love of God, stop hoarding toilet paper! There's no toilet paper anywhere! Crazy! And kind of funny. There are plenty of Cheetos but no TP. Trying to stay calm but I'm a little nervous. Though still feeling hopeful that this will all be over sooner rather than later. Really hopeful.

Graduation day ended with a heartfelt speech and a salute. Everyone cheered and Jason turned to look at Derek who was grinning at him. He clapped his hands over his cheeks to pull him in for a loud smooch à la Bugs Bunny. Derek stood there frozen looking very much like the bewildered Penelope Pussycat to Tim who was watching from the stands flabbergasted. Cassie elbowed Tim in the stomach and she grinned wildly at him after having seen the exact same thing Tim did. Tim just shook his head and decided it was nice to see Jason happy. He smiled back at Cassie and waited like the others to congratulate the newly minted Peace Officers of New York. 

Jason laughed at Derek’s expression right as Garcia and Liberty both kissed him on either cheek. Lucas whacked him on the chest with a dozen roses and Nevins kneeled before him offering him a box of bacon strip bandages. Derek stared at it completely befuddled then frowned. He threw the box at Crespo’s head because he was chuckling under his breath and proceeded to flip them all off making everyone howl with laughter. 

Derek had finally healed from his injury just in time for graduation and that was how his friends decided to congratulate him for having received a clean bill of health because they hadn’t been able to beforehand. He was going to miss them. They would all leave the academy grounds and if they were lucky would end up working near one another in the city. If not, at the very least, they’d still be in the same state. Derek teared up and stretched his arms wide inviting all his friends into a group hug which they all readily fell into. Of course, that ended with Winters complaining about Jason hogging the other man and before they all knew it, the two were wrestling on the ground. 

Winters flipped Jason onto his back as she straddled him but Jason had his hand on her neck even though she was pinning the rest of him down. 

“It’s a tie!” shouted Phillips. 

“No way! This one goes to Hutchings!” said Crespo. “She didn’t completely subdue him.”

“Crespo’s right,” said Lucas as he rubbed his chin in thought. 

Then Winters tapped Jason’s arm and he released her neck while grinning at her smugly. 

“I’ll get you next time,” Winters said as she stood up and offered Jason a hand up. 

“Yeah, sure,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes. “If you ever catch me unawares,  _ maybe _ you’ll win.”

Winters snorted and walked towards her family who was waiting in the wings. Then everyone noticed that their family and friends had been waiting to congratulate them and they each went their separate ways. 

Before Jason could turn around he’d been slammed into his middle by a petite blonde. He couldn’t see her face but when he felt a clap on his shoulder, he turned to see Tim grinning at him, he realized the petite thing was Cassie. He awkwardly patted her head and smiled at Tim. 

“Congratulations!” Tim told him proudly. He was surprised at first that Jason had completed the academy but having seen first hand that he’d actually made friends and was able to just be normal for maybe the first time in his life, it was hard for him to say how he was feeling because saying he was happy for Jason seemed too small of an expression to convey his feelings. 

“Thanks,” Jason said and shifted awkwardly forcing Cassie to release him. 

“Hey, I’ve never been friends with a cop. This is cool!” Cassie said and beamed up at Jason who rolled his eyes at her. She extended her hands at him and was holding a small box with a big red and green bow on it. “Here! Open it!”

Jason looked at Tim who had a tiny smile on his face. He wasn’t sure if this was a gag gift. He was scared to open it just to have something explode in his face. But he decided to bite the proverbial bullet and opened the box. Inside lay a chocolate iced donut. Jason laughed and grabbed it before biting into it. 

“His first official donut!!” Cassie said excitedly as she snapped a pic. Tim was snickering in the background. 

Before Jason could take another bite, someone snatched it from him and stuffed the rest into his own mouth. Jason glared at Crespo who backed away with his arms raised and laughing almost choking on the donut. 

“I’m not giving you the Heimlich, Crespo, you asshole!” Jason said pointing at the other man. Crespo forced the donut down while pounding on his own chest and laughed. Everyone who was close to them and saw what happened was laughing too. “You owe me like 100 donuts for that!”

“Bill me!” Crespo’s said with a salute and disappeared into the crowd. 

“Who’s this pretty lady?” Garcia said as he slung an arm over Jason’s shoulder. 

“Jailbait. Need I say more?” Jason responded just as Cassie was about to introduce herself. 

Tim pulled her back by the elbow and Cassie gave him an annoyed look. 

“What,” Garcia said as he gestured to Tim with a head nod. “Is he your boyfriend?” 

“No!” Both Tim and Cassie replied at the same time. 

Jason and Garcia smiled at one another knowingly. 

“Sure, if you say so,” Garcia said slowly. 

“Is that Tammy?” Derek said as he came into view being followed by Liberty and Lucas who’d gravitated towards Jason when Crespo stole his donut. 

“ _ The _ Tammy!?” Liberty said and looked from Cassie to Jason and pointed at his nose. 

Jason nodded at the nose part and didn’t comment at the name since it was making Tim nervous. 

“ _ You _ gave Hutching’s the face-over?” Garcia said as he gestured to Jason’s face with his free hand and whistled lowly. 

“It was a lucky shot,” Jason said with a shrug but looking at Cassie with a smirk playing on his lips. 

“Lucky my ass!” Cassie said and pointed at Jason. “What you’re lucky about is that I held back at the last second.”

Tim nodded in agreement making everyone goggle at the girl. 

“Hey, I can use some pointers to take down this gorilla,” Winters said, suddenly standing at Liberty’s side. No one but Jason had noticed her approach. 

“I already told you, Winters you need to catch me unawares,” Jason said and winked at her. 

Winters glared at him and pointed at Cassie. “Shut up. I was talking to my new hero.”

“Oh god, please don’t,” Tim said, clapping his hands around Cassie’s ears who was grinning at Winters. “Now she’s going to be insufferable the rest of the month.”

“You’re just jealous ‘cause I have a fan!” Cassie said, swatting Tim’s hands away. 

“Yeah, one fan, big deal,” Tim said chuckling under his breath. Cassie growled. Tim laughed harder. 

“Hey, are you famous or something kid?” Lucas said, staring at Tim curiously. 

Tim rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“He does look familiar,” said Winters. 

“Hey, back off, knuckleheads,” Jason said coming to Tim’s defense. The last thing he wanted was word getting around that Tim Drake, CEO of Wayne Enterprises attended a Police Academy graduation in New York when he’d never done so in Gotham. “I was trying to have a moment here with my ass-backyards family. We don’t need a media circus. So take your phone and shove it up your ass, Lucas before I do it for you.”

“Alright, killer, take it easy,” Lucas said, stuffing his phone in his pocket. He’d already been trying to reverse search a pic he’d taken of Tim. But if he was something of Jason’s, he’d back off. 

“Aww, you hear that Tim?” Cassie said, staring at Jason with glassy eyes as she took hold of Tim’s arm. “He  _ loves _ us.”

Tim and Jason shot her very similar unimpressed looks. 

Winters barked out a laugh. “Mark my words; the day Sam Hutchings says he loves anyone, microwaves everywhere will throw themselves out of windows.”

Everyone but Tim and Cassie burst out laughing. Jason groaned and shook his head. 

“Hey,” Jason said, pointing at Winters. “I will personally chuck any microwave that crosses my path if it looks like it should be condemned as a health hazard out the nearest window. You can write that on my epitaph.”

“Here lies Sam Hutchings. A loyal friend. Defender of the law. Known for his personal vendetta against condemned microwaves,” Garcia said as he looked out before him and moved his arm from left to right as if he was reading what he’d said.

There were snickers all around.

“But only if he’s ordered to clean them,” said a gruff voice behind the group. The sarge smiled at the group before him and looked at Jason proudly. “You did everyone at the academy a great favor when you got rid of that microwave. No matter how colorful you went about it.” Jason grinned. “But I do have to warn you, that little play won’t be forgiven in whatever precinct you land in. And that goes for the rest of you yahoos as well. Do as you’re told, respect your superiors, and you’ll go a long way in your law enforcement careers. Now get your rookie asses off the academy grounds before the lot of you make me sprout more grey hairs in interesting places.”

The group groaned and gagged as the sarge let out a deep belly laugh. Jason was laughing right along with the man as the sarge made his way back the way he’d come from.

“Now it makes sense that you were his favorite,” Garcia said with a shake of his head. “You both have a sadistic sense of humor.”

“You just  _ now _ figured that out,” Derek said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Seriously?”

“The sarge making us do mountain climbers right after lunch while giving us an evil smirk or Hutchings giving us bruises on top of our most recent bruises while grinning didn’t tip you off?” Lucas said with an annoyed glare.

“It was worse when they tagged teamed. The sarge would give us outlandish threats while looking right at Hutchings and he would do exactly what the sarge had said not to do grinning all the while which was exactly what the sarge wanted to happen,” Liberty said and Jason chuckled.

“And it always happened to coincide with the mornings we were all hungover,” Nevins said and they all turned to look at Jason in annoyance.

Jason held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I was doing you all a favor.” They all narrowed their eyes at him. “It was either sit in a classroom nursing a hangover or passing out on mats until you recovered. I mean, you all rested better after puking. Right?”

Winters took a menacing step forward while pointing a finger at Jason. “Get him.”

“Oh, shit,” Jason said, grabbing hold of Tim’s arm and tugging on him. He cast a desperate look in Cassie’s direction to get her to move with them. “Run!”

Jason was laughing as all three of them easily outran his former classmates. Lucky for him, Cassie had driven her and Tim up to the academy in a convertible. They were in her car and peeling rubber before the others even had a chance to catch up. 

“I don’t think your friends like you anymore,” Cassie remarked as she drove once Jason’s laughter had died down.

Jason chuckled again. “God, I hope you’re right. They’re all annoying as hell.”

Cassie and Tim looked at one another with skeptical looks and then smiled amusedly when they heard Jason’s phone blowing up with text after text. 

“You can’t get rid of them that easy,” Tim told him and then chuckled when he saw Jason smiling at his phone as he replied to the texts slowly but surely.


	20. You are reading the twentieth chapter

“Nightwing!” 

Jason turned to face the person who was calling him.

“Donna?” Jason said standing from the crouch he was in. He hadn’t started his patrol, he’d been taking the time to listen for anything unusual because he felt an odd sensation as soon as he hit the roofs. He wondered if Donna being there had anything to do with it. But he had to tell her who he was. Having her confuse him with Dick was not going to fly. He removed the charm and watched her eyes widen when she took in his change of appearance. “It’s been a while since we saw each other last.” Jason ran a hand over his hair and looked at her patiently.

“Jason! Oh my god, is it really you?” Donna said and rushed him to give him a hug. 

They stayed in others’ embrace for close to a minute. Since Jason had not seen Donna since his Robin days, he was eating up this reunion. Donna was just feeling exceptionally happy that Jason was... alive! She pulled away first placing a hand on his face. 

“Jason,” she said softly with teary eyes. “I can’t believe you're here.”

“Yeah. Little Ol’ me is all grown up wearing his big brother’s hand me downs once again,” Jason said with a chuckle.

Donna laughed. “Actually, I’m glad it’s you I ran into. Something happened and I…” Donna cut herself off and placed a hand on her forehead. She took in a deep breath trying to control her emotions. 

“Donna? Hey,” Jason said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“Jason, I didn’t even know until just now that you’d come back. But the same thing happened to me not too long ago.” Donna turned away from him and hugged herself. “After I died, I was returned but not without consequences. I was forced to relive my life not just this one but from other realities by Dark Angel who was my counterpart from another reality. After she was defeated I had so much knowledge within me about the multiverse that the Monitor entrusted me with the Universe Orb. But last night, I was at a real low. It was the anniversary of my ex-husband and son’s death. I just happened to be looking at them through the orb when Roy came to my apartment to check on me. He asked about it and I told him what it was. Then I showed him his daughter from another reality thinking it would soothe him to see her alive elsewhere as it does to me. After that, it was all I could do to explain that it wasn’t the daughter he lost. He thought I was trying to keep him from reuniting with his lost daughter. But she’s dead, Jason. He can’t get her back. He said there had to be a way because he’s seen people come back. He left my apartment after that in a hurry. I think he’s going to do something very stupid,” Donna said turning to face Jason. “I need your help to find him and retrieve the Universe Orb before it falls into the wrong hands.” 

“Yeah, I can help you with that,” Jason told her and hoiked his thumb over his shoulder to point behind him. “Let me just change out of this and get my gear.”

“Lead the way,” Donna told him and as he grappled his way back to his apartment, Donna flew beside him.

Jason quickly switched out from the Nightwing outfit to his Red Hood gear minus the helmet. He opted for just sticking with the red domino mask instead. The skintight jumpsuit worked wonders for Donna but Jason preferred the leather jacket paired with cargo pants combination. Don’t get him wrong, he loved the Nightwing outfit but it wasn’t really his style. Plus, he was only wearing it to antagonize Dick wherever he was. Unfortunately, Jason had only had a run-in with Dick as Sam and not Nightwing. It seemed that wouldn’t happen unless he ventured towards Brooklyn but Jason had centered his activity near his apartment in the Bronx. So unless he learned how to fly or didn’t mind train surfing, he wasn’t going to get any closer to his big brother. And he used that term loosely.

“So are you going to tell me why you were masquerading as Nightwing?” Donna told him as they made their way towards Roy’s safehouse hoping to find a clue to where he was heading.

“Well, dad always wanted me to fill Dick’s shoes. Thought I’d try it again for old time’s sake. Maybe this time around it will stick and I’ll make him proud,” Jason said amusedly. 

“Jason, the only shoes you need to be filling is yours. Stop trying to live for him and live for yourself. Believe me when I tell you that it’s not worth trying to live up to someone else’s expectations,” Donna said with a slight shake of her head and a heavy sigh. “There is no filling someone else’s shoes because the person you’re looking up to can’t do it either. It’s all a facade. One that only leads to heartache sometimes your own demise when you’re trying to reach it.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience there, Donna,” Jason said looking at her curiously. 

“Only fifty-two lives worth,” Donna said with a smirk. 

“Right,” Jason said and smiled softly. He didn’t want to know what it felt like to live so many lives. It must have been torture for Donna. And here she was standing strong as always trying to save someone else. “We’ll find him, Donna. We’ll make this right.”

“Just like old times?”

“Yeah,” Jason said and stood up to his full height when they reached Roy’s safe house. “I say we do it better.”

Donna nodded then entered a code at the door and stepped inside. Jason looked around at everything without touching anything. Donna was rifling through the security footage. But then Jason walked up to a workbench and halted when he saw an empty box sitting there. 

“Uh, Donna, what was in this thing?” Jason said without turning to look at her. He was getting a weird vibe from it. 

Donna looked over and cringed. “No. That idiot. He couldn’t. Why her?”

“Who?” Jason said looking over at Donna.

“Omen,” Donna said and shook her head. “Her name is Lilith. She was one of us—an original Teen Titan—and she was killed by a Superman android right before it killed me. If she was powerful before, she’s more so now that she was brought back. She not only has the power to teleport but has been used as a key to open a portal between dimensions. In the box was a device Roy came up with to find her specifically using her psychic connection to us in reverse? I’m not really sure how it worked. Roy invented and wasn’t very clear on the explanation. Either that or Dick and I didn’t make it a point to understand how it was made as much as wanting to know that it actually worked.”

“Okay, well, we don’t have one of those,” Jason said and pulled out his phone. “We’ll probably have a better chance to track him using his phone.”

Donna nodded but frowned when she noticed Jason was calling someone. 

“Hey, Timster,” Jason said with a wide grin. “I need your help to track down Roy.”

* * *

  
It didn’t take long for Tim to track Roy’s whereabouts. Luckily he’d still been in New York. Jason decided they’d reach him faster on his bike. But Donna had other ideas. Like carrying him as she flew. Jason felt just a little emasculated with that predicament. He was just glad she’d hoisted him up from his pits and not carried him bridal style. That would’ve been mortifying. But by the time they reached Roy, he was going through a portal conjured up by Lilith. Donna hit the gas—if that was even possible—and she and Jason made it through before it closed. 

As soon as they’d made it through, Jason felt weak as if all the energy in his body was sapped. And he figured that Donna had experienced something similar because she’d let go of him at some point. Since they’d been close to the shore, Jason landed in the water and was washed up to shore. He only knew that had happened because he woke with his face in the sand and the water lapping around his calves. And he was freezing with no Donna around. They’d been separated. And Jason had no idea how to find Donna or Roy. He was in a different world now and he doubted his cell phone worked in the newfound dimension. 

“I’ll follow you to the end of the world, Donna,” Jason said weakly, admonishing himself as he spat out sand. “But no one said what would happen once I got there.”

_ Alright, stop moping and get moving. _

Jason forced himself up on shaky legs. It was close to sunset and he was only going to get colder unless he managed to get into some dry clothes. He looked around the area hoping to see anything that looked familiar and that’s when he noticed the woman standing beside him. 

“W-wonder W-woman?” Jason said and he damned his chattering teeth. 

“Hello, young one,” Wonder Woman replies. “I was sent to greet you. Come with me. We need to ask you a few questions.”

“N-no w-way. Y-yo-you j-just w-want t-to int-terrogate me,” Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest. His teeth were still chattering up a storm. 

“No, not an interrogation. We just want to help,” Wonder Woman told him. “You look like you can use some dry clothes and maybe some coffee.”

“F-fine,” Jason said because he definitely needed some coffee but he was not going to allow the Justice League to treat him like a criminal. 

Wonder Woman stood beside him without touching him and touched her ear lightly. “John, two for transport.”

“W-wait!” Jason said but it was too late, he’d been teleported into space. _ Holy fucking shit! I’m in the Watchtower! _

“Come,” Wonder Woman told him, taking Jason by the elbow. But Jason was looking around in awe. It scared him to think he was going to be up in space but now that he was, he couldn’t help being excited. 

_ I’m in the fucking Watchtower with Wonder Woman! _

“These are our locker rooms. Feel free to change into the clothes provided in the shower stall. I’ll be right outside,” Wonder Woman told him as she waited for him to move into the shower area. 

_ Was that a subtle jab that I stink? _

But Jason couldn’t afford to feel affronted. The coldness was weeping into his bones. It was so much colder in the Watchtower than it had been down on earth. He could use a very hot shower. 

After he stepped out of the shower, he was dried automatically with a burst of air. It actually made him jump in surprise. It was like standing under a very strong current of air. It didn’t last long and Jason wondered if it had been air at all. But he touched his skin and it was dry. However, his hair was still damp. A towel and a fresh change of clothes were provided. It looked like loungewear. And the clothes he was wearing including his weapons were gone. He was lucky he’d kept his domino mask on. 

“I want to report a crime,” Jason said, stepping into the main area of the locker room as he glared at Wonder Woman. 

“I see,” she said without even missing a beat. “Follow me. We could speak in the lounge.”

“I was talking about my clothes and weapons,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes. Did this Wonder Woman not understand sarcasm? “I told you before. I’m not going to allow you to interrogate me like I’m some criminal.”

“No,” said a gruff voice. “Not as a criminal. But you don’t belong in this dimension. We need to know how you managed to traverse the plane from your world to ours and why.”

Jason had turned to face the other fully. He was looking right at Batman. He couldn’t help the scowl that he directed at the man. 

“You know, I don’t have to tell you anything. So growl and glare all you want, until my weapons are returned and I get my fill of coffee, I won’t say a damn word.”

Batman narrowed his eyes at Jason. Jason narrowed his right back. Wonder Woman sighed. Green Arrow who Jason hadn’t even seen until he heard the man snicker, clapped a hand on Batman’s shoulder as he looked right at him. Batman ignored him. And Superman entered the area hovering over the ground as if walking like a normal person took too much effort. And that was when Jason noticed how _young _they all were. This wasn’t the Justice League he knew. They were young and had less experience in dealing with outsiders from the looks of it. And any experience they did have must’ve been bad. Enough to already have Batman full-on paranoid. 

“What Batman was trying to say is that we would appreciate any answers you can give us,” Superman said politely. 

Jason snorted. “Yeah. No. Don’t even try to mollify his paranoia.”

Green Arrow laughed again. “Guy’s got you pegged, Bats.”

“I should. I’m his son after all,” Jason said then realized what he’d said and looked anywhere but at Batman. _ Fuck. Shit. _

The quiet in the room was suddenly too much. 

“I don’t use guns,” Batman said, cutting the quiet and refuting Jason’s words all in one blow. 

“Yeah,” Jason said looking right at him. “And that’s why we’re not on good terms. But it doesn’t make it any less true.”

Batman nodded as if that made sense. 

“Now that I’m paying attention, I do see the family resemblance,” Green Arrow said rubbing his chin. 

“It’s all superficial, I’m sure,” Jason said, frowning at the Green Arrow in annoyance. He looked nothing like Bruce. All Jason saw in the mirror these days was Willis. “I’m adopted.”

Batman nodded again as if he’d known all along. Then he gestured to Jason to follow him as he turned to leave the room. Wonder Woman and Superman were speechless. Green Arrow was still grinning and he clapped Jason on the shoulder in approval before he slightly pushed him to get him moving. 

“Let’s get some grub. I’m starving.”

_ Donna, where the hell are you? _

“Hal is going to complain that he missed this,” Green Arrow said in amusement. 

“Oliver,” Superman said in reprimand.

“You know it’s funny, Supes,” Green Arrow told him. “Besides, the lad here doesn’t mind me ribbing in on his old man.” 

“I wouldn’t if you weren’t so annoying,” Jason said, still frowning. That got Batman to snort. Jason smiled at having learned he could make any Batman—no matter the dimension—laugh. 

“Was that a _ snort_? Supes, tell me he snorted,” Green Arrow said with the widest grin Jason had ever seen on the man. 

“Yes, it was,” Superman said smiling. 

“Traitor,” Batman said in annoyance. 

Superman raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry. But it took me by surprise.”

Then Superman was walking right next to Batman as they led the way. Wonder Woman stood beside Jason with a small smile. 

“Whatever the reason for your arrival, I’m glad you’re here,” she said softly. 

Jason didn’t reply. All he could do was plan what he was going to say. He needed to get back to Earth so that he could find Donna. Though she could handle herself, there was no telling what Roy and Lilith were up to. And Jason didn’t want to rat them out. But maybe he should. Well, just so that they didn’t do anything like destroy this dimension or his or whatever. Fuck. He had to tell the Junior Justice League everything. But why did it feel so very wrong to do so?


	21. You are reading the twenty-first chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is so late. I had a hard time getting this down. And I had to change the dialogue a few times. But I don't think I can do anything else with it. If you have any questions, hopefully, they'll be answered in the next chapter. I plan on posting the next one in two weeks. That's if I can finish it on time. Sorry in advance if I can't meet my goal.

Jason sipped at his coffee as he watched the junior JL interact. It was surreal watching them act like real people instead of iconic heroes or just plain sticks in the mud. Because the league he knew were all self-righteous pricks. But he couldn’t describe these people that way. Or at least not yet. And Batman wasn’t anywhere near as paranoid about the situation—that of having Jason drop in from a different dimension and announcing to be his adopted son—than his Batman would be. Hell, Jason would’ve been called a liar at least a half a dozen times. Not to mention being subjected to a DNA test even if he’d already claimed not to be related to Bruce by blood. So this situation was fucking weird overall. It made Jason feel unsettled. So he watched, listened, and learned everything about them that he could. After he finished his second cup of coffee, he felt a touch like a light caress in his mind. 

Jason sat up straight and looked around. 

“Where is he?!” Jason said in a gruff voice before Martian Manhunter came through the wall. 

Jason’s surroundings shimmered and faded. And he was exactly where he thought Batman would have placed him. In a holding cell. Martian Manhunter, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman were staring at him from the other side of a glass wall. 

Jason slammed bodily into the thick glass. All he did was bruise his shoulder. He scowled at Batman. He knew it was all his doing. Where the hell was Donna? And how much of what had just happened was actually real? For all Jason knew he could’ve been knocked out as soon as he landed in this dimension. 

He could hear Batman reproving Martian Manhunter for not keeping Jason asleep and the martian defending himself saying that Jason had the strongest mental defenses he’d come across. Jason tuned them out and faced Superman. He’d always been the most level headed out of the entire justice league. 

“How long have I been in here?” Jason asked him. 

Superman frowned. “Is that truly the first question you want to ask?”

“I don’t ask questions unless I need answers,” Jason said and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared the other man down. “And how long I’ve been here seems the most pertinent at the moment.”

“Then you understand why you’re in our custody?” Superman said with a raised brow. Jason didn’t like his tone of voice. Or the fact that he hadn’t answered his question. 

“Of course,” Jason said and pointed at Batman. “Because he’s a fucking paranoid son of a bitch.” Superman scowled probably because of his coarse language. “You’re the Justice League. There’s no need for me to be locked in here. I don’t stand a chance against all of you.” Well, he could probably escape at the very least. But he couldn’t face them all in an all-out fight if it came down to it. Not alone or without his god damned gear. “If I broke the law, I should have the right to defend myself before I’m locked up like some crazy-ass lunatic.” He looked at Batman and glared.

“How do you know me?” Batman said stepping closer having heard Jason’s tirade. It seemed like he had some personal issues with him specifically but Batman had never seen this young man before. 

“Fuck you,” Jason responded and looked at Superman again. “Get him out of here and I’ll answer all your questions. I’m tired of looking at his stupid face.”

“Son…” Superman said and sighed. 

“I’m not your fucking son!”

“It’s a colloquial term,” Superman said with his hands raised. 

“I know I’m not an idiot,” Jasón muttered under his breath but he knew Superman heard him. 

“I didn’t mean any disrespect.” Superman turned to look at Batman who sighed and turned to leave the room. 

“The mind fucker goes next,” Jason said, staring down the martian. To his credit, the martian left before Superman could even turn to look at him. 

“Would you like me to leave as well?” Wonder Woman asked politely. 

Jason scoffed. “What I’d like is my question answered and to be let out of this fucking cell.”

“We can’t do that,” Wonder Woman responded. 

“Not yet,” Superman said looking at Wonder Woman then back at Jason. “As for the length of time you’ve been here, it’s been a couple of days.”

“Days?” Jason said and began to pace. At most, he thought it had only been a few hours. “Why am I in the cell? What are you afraid of?”

“It’s more for your protection than our own,” Superman told him and pointed to the ceiling. There was some sort of device near the air vents taking readings of some sort. Jason frowned. He looked at Superman with a raised brow. “You were having trouble breathing when we found you. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong. But Martian the Manhunter realized it was your lungs. This is a compression chamber. Best he could tell was that you had a radiation-based injury.”

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't going to apologize for being a dick to Bruce or the martian. For all he knew, Superman was lying to him. Though he didn’t think that was likely. 

“Batman asked if you knew him and I have to admit I’m curious about that myself,” Wonder Woman said with a calm known only to her. “You seem to have some issues with him personally. Why is that?”

Jason closed his eyes and looked to the heavens for a beat. “It's a long story.” 

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” Superman said in amusement. 

Jason choked out a laugh. “Actually, I do.”

“Meeting some friends of yours?” 

“Yeah, we were separated. You wouldn’t know where they are, do you?”

“No,” Superman said with a small shake of his head. “I found you alone. Falling from the sky.”

“Good thing you caught me then, right?” Jason said with a smirk and leaned his hip against the wall. 

Superman smiled and nodded. “Very good thing.”

“Where was I falling from?” 

Superman shrugged. “There was nothing I detected.”

“But Batman did. And he already has a theory. Care to share?”

“I’d like to know what you think happened before I do that,” Superman said, tilting his head slightly. 

“The last thing I remember was probably a fake memory. Something that the Manhunter made me see. And I’m not sure what part before that memory is real and what isn’t. Whatever you can tell me will hopefully help me sort that out.”

“You had this with you?” Superman told him as he raised his hand to show him some sort of square device. Jason frowned. He had no idea what that was. “It’s a mother box?”

“A mother box,” Jason repeated lamely. He had no idea what that was. “What happened to the father box?” Superman frowned and so did Wonder Woman before he registered their expression however, he continued. “Though, I always thought I was a baby box sort of person.”

“Excuse me?” Wonder Woman said not understanding what Jason meant. 

Superman chuckled. “Goldilocks.”

“I fail to understand.”

“It’s a children’s story,” Superman said to Wonder Woman then turned to Jason. “But there are no baby boxes to my knowledge. It's a sentient device used to open up a Boom Tube.”

“Boom Tube, huh?” Jason said and Superman nodded. “And what the heck would I need a Boom Tube for?”

“To open a portal that would allow you access to Earth.”

“To Earth?!” Jason stood up straight and pointed at the device. “Are you saying that I wasn’t even on Earth and that brought me back?!” Superman nodded. “What the fuck? The first time I traveled off-planet and I don’t even remember the trip.” Jason began to pace again. All the while muttering shit and fuck over and over again. 

Superman and Wonder Woman exchanged wary glances. 

“Hey! Hey, Big Blue, you have to let me out. I have to get back to wherever I was. I have a feeling my friends are there. And if I got out of there alone, it was more than likely to regroup before I returned to extract them,” Jason said slightly panicked. “That thing has coordinates or something right?”

“That would not be wise,” Wonder Woman told Jason. “Apokolips is no place for a mere human. You’d only set yourself to die.”

“Look, Lady, you don’t know me very well. But if I got out once, I can do it again.” Not that he was going to specify that he’d also died before and came back to life. Jason wasn’t afraid to die. He was just afraid of waking up in a coffin again. That had been the especially scary part of the entire ordeal. He looked Wonder Woman right in the eyes. “I’m not going to sit here while my friends are in danger!” 

“Do you have any idea how you ended up in Apokolips, to begin with?” Superman asked curiously. 

Jason shook his head. “No. And that shouldn’t matter.” Before Superman was able to retort, Jason raised his hand to stop him. “Look, I’m not your responsibility. Not that I’m ungrateful for your help but it’s time we part ways. I have people waiting for me to return and I won’t let them down.”

Just then a portal opened within the chamber Jason was in, Omen fell towards Jason who caught her. 

“Lilith?” Jason said. He wasn’t really sure. He didn’t know her very well. And he hadn’t gotten a real good look at her when he and Donna followed Roy and Lilith through the portal they’d gone through. 

“Robin,” she said and looked at him with a tear-streaked face. “Donna and Roy need help… I couldn’t reach them in...”

“Lilith? Lilith?!” Jason said as she slumped in his arms. She passed out. He hoped. He laid her down to take her pulse and sighed in relief. Then he stood up and punched the glass wall. “Fuuuck!” He glared at Superman. “You have to let me out. Now!!”

But the sensor in the chamber began to beep. Superman shook his head. 

“I’m sorry. But that’s not a good idea,” Superman told him and raised his hands when Jason punched the wall again. “Calm down. You need to stay in there and so does she. Her readings are similar to yours when you arrived. Neither of you are in any condition to set out on a mission to save your friends when all you’ll do is endanger your own lives. Leave them to me. I’ll save them.”

“I’ll join you,” Wonder Woman said with a nod. 

“You don’t even know who they are!”

“We will if you allow our teammate access—” Wonder Woman began but was cut off by Jason. 

“Fine,” Jason said firmly. If Manhunter meddled in his mind, he could access his memories. He had to see for himself where he left Donna and Roy. He felt guilty as hell for having left them behind. And worse even was the fact that he didn’t even know why he had. It just didn’t seem like something he would do. Then there was Lilith. Jason turned to look at her. And his face fell. He would have to leave her behind to get the others. He didn’t even know her that well but it still rankled him to just leave her. But he had to in order to save Donna and Roy. “But afterward, I’m coming with you.”

Superman sighed but left the room. Most likely to confer with the others. Wonder Woman followed but only after she looked over at Lilith’s prone form with something akin to sympathy. 

Jason scowled at her but ignored her otherwise. He turned to kneel next to Lilith. Her breathing was labored. But her pulse was strong. What the hell happened to her? Superman had said something about radiation poisoning. Did that have anything to do with the environment of the other world they’d been in? And what had Lilith meant when she said she couldn’t reach the others? Jason fisted his hands in frustration. 

“Don’t worry, Lilith. I’ll find them and bring them back.”

It was a promise he meant to keep. 

  
  



	22. You are reading the twenty-second chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set prior to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

Jason had no idea what had happened. One moment he was diving headfirst into a portal, just barely managing to keep the panic at bay and the next thing he knew, he was fighting for his life against assassins. That didn’t make any sense. Wasn’t he with Donna? But Donna was nowhere to be seen. And from the corner of his eye, Jason saw Talia al Guhl. 

He blocked a blow that came towards him automatically. His body moved without his need to be mentally present. He took the moment to look around. And then it hit him, he was inside a memory. This wasn’t happening now. No, this had happened to him after he’d come back to life. He’d never had a clear image of what he’d been through at that time and he didn’t care to have it now. The memory he was seeing was erased and replaced several times with others as if he was flicking the channel on a remote. But Jason couldn’t get back to when he was with Donna. It was like he was being forced to relive certain moments in which he was always fighting or training; filled with rage. 

He remembered feeling rage when he came out of the Lazarus pit. And he remembered feeling that same anger the night he went up against Batman with the Joker as bait. And again when he was standing in front of some huge hulking figure. Darkseid. He knew the name but he didn’t know how he knew. But then he was there in that particular memory. And it felt so real. Like he was actually there.

Jason felt a spear prodding him from behind. His legs and arms were shackled. And he was in some weird green armor. The air was thick and made it hard to breathe. The smell was acrid. Fire burned all around him. There was no light in the place that didn’t originate from the fires. And even though there was fire burning all around, the environment felt cold. The sky was dark red and covered in smog casting a dark atmosphere. Gloomy didn’t describe this place. It was almost a manifestation of a kind of dystopian hell. If that was even possible. 

Jason shook his head. His mind was fuzzy and the spear prodded him once more but this time it gave him a shock. Jason let out a low pain filled growl and fell to his knees. He looked up at Darkseid with anger that coiled around his gut ready to be unleashed. 

“He’s not complying, my lord,” said the voice behind him. 

“This one is very strong,” Darkseid said, walking forward as if to get a better look at Jason. “I will break him. Leave him to me.”

“As you wish, my lord,” said the same voice as they took a step back. But at the same time, Jason jumped to his feet and used his momentum to flip over the other person behind him. He wrapped his shackles around the person’s neck and squeezed. “M-my lord. H-help.”

“You’re useless,” Darkseid said and shot an omega beam at them. 

The body burned to ash but the blow of the beam flung Jason’s body back with some of the ash. The residuum of the omega beam did more than cause Jason horrible pain, it also gave him sunburn. The heat weakened his shackles and Jason was able to break free of them. As soon as he was free, he ran. He had no idea what direction to go in or even where he was or how he’d gotten there. But he knew one thing, he had to retreat for now. He would plan an attack and come back for that son of a bitch. Whoever he was. 

Sometimes Jason was lucky and in that very moment, luck found him when he ran right onto a platform only seconds after a being of some sort appeared in it. It was alien and was wearing the type of armor Jason had on. That wasn’t all, it had some sort of box in his hand. Jason hazarded a guess that the box was what that being had used to appear out of thin air. Adrenaline still fueling his every move, Jason tackled the being and wrestled the box out of its hand. He pressed the first button he could reach just as another omega beam came into his line of sight. Jason moved so that the other would take the burnt of the beam. The alien was burned to a crisp and then Jason was falling. He’d been propelled forward and through a portal with the force of the attack. The armor he’d been wearing was now almost non-existent. And suddenly there was blue sky all around him as he fell. 

Jason came out of the memory with a jolt. He grabbed onto whatever was around him which happened to be a person. When he looked up, he saw Batman who had pressed an arm on his chest to keep him steady. Jason released the man’s arm and blinked in confusion. Superman and Wonder Woman were both standing off to the side. They both looked worried about something. Maybe his reaction. But he couldn’t have helped it, it had felt like he was there. He could still feel some of the residual pain and fear. He looked back at Batman who was still holding him down. 

“You’re alright. I got you,” Batman told him and once he saw Jason calm down, he looked over at Martian Manhunter who was standing behind Jason. “Was that enough?”

Jason turned back to look at the martian who didn’t answer. Batman stepped back giving him room to move. Jason remembered that the martian was supposed to find out what he could to help Donna and Roy. But it seemed the martian didn’t want to say what he’d seen. “Well, did it help? Do you know where my friends are?”

“I didn’t see your friends,” Martian Manhunter replied calmly. “Only how you escaped.”

Jason frowned and stood up to face him fully. “What do you mean? You were in my head! Poking around in things that had nothing to do with what happened to my friends! What were you trying to do?!”

Batman looked from Jason to Martian Manhunter and frowned. “Explain, J’onn. What did you see?”

“I only saw what he allowed me to see,” Martian replied and paused as he looked at Jason. He looked a little worried about him. Jason frowned impatiently and Manhunter turned back to look at Batman resolved to give an answer. “I believe he may have experienced a dissociative episode.”

Batman looked at Jason who turned away from them as if he knew that what Manhunter said was true. Batman couldn’t help but wonder what the young man had experienced in his life. He knew it had to be something traumatic. But they didn’t have time to delve into that. Not when there were two others that may be in danger from Darkseid. 

“What do you mean?” Wonder Woman asked with concern. “He had an episode while you were looking at his memories?”

“No,” Martian said and looked at Jason to ask without asking if he could continue. Jason refused to meet his gaze. Manhunter sighed softly but continued knowing the young man probably didn’t want anyone to know but wasn’t going to stop Manhunter from talking. “He has no memory of his time in Apokolips because he had an episode while he was there. He didn’t come out of it until Darkseid tried to mentally manipulate him. After that, he managed to escape. He was extremely lucky.”

“I doubt that it was only luck that helped him escape,” Superman said thinking aloud as he looked at Jason thoughtfully.

“Do you have those episodes often?” Batman asked carefully. They couldn’t take him with them. He’d be a liability. 

Jason sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Uh, it may have happened once or twice before.” That he knew of but he wasn’t stupid enough to say that. 

“Hmm,” Batman said and decided not to continue that conversation for now. He turned to look at J’onn. “What about the girl?”

“You mean, Lilith?” Jason said, looking at Batman and pointing at the martian in amusement. “You want him to go in her head while she’s unconscious? Good luck with that. If he couldn’t get into my memories while I was unconscious, I doubt he could do that to a psychic.”

“She’s a psychic?” Wonder Woman asked looking back at the girl that was inside the hyperbolic chamber. 

“An extremely powerful one,” Jason said and gestured to the martian with a head nod. “More powerful than him.”

“Are you certain about that?” Superman asked curiously.

Jason shrugged and leaned back against a wall. “I’d wake her up first. Unless you want to end up with a brain dead alien on your hands.”

“He’s right,” Manhunter said as he looked at the girl. Having already tried to access her mind but failing to do so. “Her mental defenses are very powerful.”

Jason noticed the other four looking at one another as if they were having a conversation with their eyes alone. But he knew better than that. They were speaking telepathically through the Manhunter. 

“Look, I don’t need your help to find and save my friends,” Jason told them. “I told you before if I got away once, I can do it again. Just hand over the box and I’ll be on my way.”

“And if you have another dissociative episode? What then?” Batman asked thinking it would dissuade the young man from being reckless.

“It won’t happen again.”

“There’s no way for you to know that.”

“Yes, there is.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Batman told him, taking a step forward to speak to him more directly. He’d softened his voice a bit but it only grated on Jason’s nerves all the more. “You have nothing to prove to us. We will help you save your friends.”

“You’re right. I don’t have anything to prove to any of you. The only thing I need to do is to go back to that fucking place to save my fucking friends. And I don’t actually need your help to do so,” Jason said stepping forward as well. 

“You can’t face Darkseid alone,” Superman told him, stepping between him and Batman before they began to argue. Batman was right, the young man was being stubborn but he had no idea what he was going up against. “The last time we fought, it took more than those of us who are here just to get Darkseid off our planet. What do you think you can do alone?”

“I don’t have to fight Darkseid to save my friends,” Jason said and shrugged. “I just need to get back in there—”

“You can’t go in blind. Without a plan—” Batman said cutting him off but Jason didn’t allow him to finish. 

“I don’t need a plan,” Jason said looking at Batman. They kept interrupting each other. But Jason knew what he was talking about. He wasn’t being stubborn. He’d been highly trained by the best teachers. Batman included. “I’ve been up against worse odds.”

“You’ll die,” Batman told him without preamble.

“Yeah,” Jason said in challenge and tilted his head to the side. “Like I said, I’ve beaten worse odds.”

“You can’t cheat death.”

“I already have, old man,” Jason told him with a smirk. “More than once. I even escaped from it.”

“What does that mean?” Wonder Woman said looking at Jason curiously.

“He died,” Martian told them in a somber voice. He wasn’t going to say anything but Jason brought it up. “And came back.”

“So what, you’re immortal?” Superman said in disbelief.

“No,” Jason said with a small shake of his head. “I don’t have an explanation for it. I died. It didn’t take. That’s all. And that’s not the point.”

“What is the point, then?” Batman asked.

“The point is that I’m not afraid to die. So that’s no reason to stop me from saving my friends,” Jason said. “And I’m not afraid to take you all on to do so, either. You have a choice to make. Fight me or get the hell out of my way. Because no matter what, I’m going back to save my friends.”

“You really think you can get past all of us?” Wonder Woman asked in disbelief.

Jason shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”

“Alright, enough,” Superman told him, having lost his patience with Jason’s attitude. “We said we would help you. And we can. We have experience going up against Darkseid and his parademons. But Batman is right, we need a plan.”

“How are you going to make a plan?” Jason said. “You have no idea where you’re going. You said so yourself. You faced him here. Not on his home turf. I’m the only one who’s been there and escaped. And you don’t have a clue what my friends look like.” He looked at all of them individually to make certain they were listening to him. “As far as I know, other than Batman, none of you know how to go anywhere using stealth. And the martian can’t even go. There’s fire everywhere. You’ll all just get in my way or get us all caught if we go together.”

“Then it’ll just be the two of us,” Batman said to Jason, quickly formulating a plan as he spoke. Jason sighed but didn’t say anything to discourage the bat. 

Batman looked at Superman then Wonder Woman to make certain they understood he wasn’t acting on impulse. 

“I’ve gone there to extract someone before.” Wonder Woman nodded remembering he’d gone in to save Superman. No one knew how he’d done it just that he had. “I know the layout. We’ll go in, locate his friends, and get out. You two will stay in the wings, out of sight, in the event that we can’t make it back out without help.” Superman and Wonder Woman knew what he was saying without saying it aloud. Just in case the young man had another episode and put them all at risk they could swoop in and get them out quickly. “J’onn will help you keep track of us. Contact, Cyborg. We’ll need him to create a boom tube big enough to take the Javelin. And get a hold of Hal and Barry, we need personnel here while we’re gone.”

Manhunter disappeared into the ceiling to prepare the Javelin. Wonder Woman stepped out of the room without another word ready to comply with Batman's orders. Superman nodded in agreement then followed his teammate already speaking to Hal through his communicator. 

“Just one thing,” Jason said to Batman. “I need a suit and gear.”

“Follow me,” Batman told him.


	23. You are now reading the twenty-third chapter

Jason raided the locker room and found a pair of cargo pants and a leather jacket within Hal Jordan’s things. They didn’t fit perfectly but would do just fine. Hal might have been a few inches taller but Jason had more muscle mass. He paired his findings with Batman’s torso armor, boots and gauntlets. Batman also gave him a utility belt that had everything Batman used. But Jason found a few more items. A dart gun that according to Batman was upgraded with taser technology. Each dart was equipped with a self-contained electrical charge that lasted five minutes. Jason grinned. He didn’t have his guns but this would do just fine. He also grabbed dual semicircular blades that were fitted with hand grips for close combat and more than a few throwing daggers because you just never knew. He attached the blades to the back of the utility belt and the daggers around his ankles. All he needed was a mask and Batman provided him a domino mask with whiteout lenses and tech. Thermal imaging. Night vision. Built-in com and facial recognition. 

“So, you’re Batman?” Jason said with a crooked smile as he looked at Batman and read his info from the lenses. 

“Hnh.”

He was happily messing around with all the different functions. He quickly switched from one to another. He couldn’t believe how much tech was fitted into such a small strip of cloth.

“If I don’t fuck these up in a fight, I’m keeping them. Just saying.”

“Cyborg added the tech,” Batman said in a monotone voice and gestured for them to get going but stopped short at the doorway. “Nightwing.”

“I heard we had a visitor—“ Nightwing’s comment was cut short. 

“Aw, shit,” Jason said when the lenses blacked-out. He couldn’t see anything and he bumped into Batman’s back making him grunt. “Sorry, B. These things are glitchy.” Jason continued to mash the buttons on the side until a spark shocked him and the mask caught fire. “Fuck!”

Jason took off the mask and began to stomp on it to put out the fire. He looked up to see both Batman and Nightwing staring at him with incredulous looks. “Guess I got a faulty pair.” His fourteen-year-old self would’ve been telling them both that it wasn’t his fault. Though it totally was. He’d matured since then. Ahem.

“This guy is Robin?” Nightwing said, giving Jason a scrutinizing look. 

Batman frowned and wondered how Nightwing had found out so fast. The Justice League hadn’t even known long. Not to mention, Nightwing wasn’t supposed to have been called up to the watchtower. He was supposed to be watching Gotham and Damian for him. 

“Fuck you, Nightdick,” Jason said flipping him off. It didn’t matter what dimension he was in fucking Dick had to be Mr. Perfect in each one. “Not everyone can be a golden boy.”

Jason stood there glaring daggers at Nightwing while Batman found him a new domino mask. He handed Jason a plain one without tech. He figured it was for the best. 

“Really?” Jason said incredulously as he flipped the domino mask over in his hand. He made one fucking mistake and was already downgraded. “You’re a fucking prick in any dimension, B.”

Batman sighed audibly and then made his way out of the room expecting Jason to follow. He pushed Nightwing out of the way with his shoulder as he did so. Nightwing chuckled and followed after Jason. 

“You really know how to press his buttons, huh?” Nightwing said smiling in mischief. “You really are Robin.”

“Well, the Dick of my dimension taught me all the ways of being an asshole,” Jason said with a smirk.

“The me you know must’ve been a great big brother,” Dick said proudly.

“Nah,” Jason said with a wave of his hand. The smirk fell off his face at the reference of brothers. “You were just a big dick.”

Dick frowned at him but kept any further comments to himself. For now.

“You should be in Gotham, Nightwing,” Batman said when he realized the boys had stopped their chatter.

“Sure, but I had to meet the Robin that fell from the sky after Starfire told me about him,” Nightwing said while he thumbed through his phone.

“Who told Starfire?” Batman asked.

“Cyborg, who else?” Nightwing said with a shrug. He quickly took a selfie of him and Jason and sent it to Starfire.

“Did you just seriously—?” Jason sputtered. Nightwing grinned at him. 

“So everybody knows,” Batman said but was mostly talking to himself.

“Was it supposed to be a secret?” Nightwing said looking askance at Batman while holding his phone out of Jason’s reach.

Batman didn’t answer and Nightwing looked at Jason warily. Jason shrugged not having any clue what the fuck was going through this Batman’s mind. He hardly knew what was going through his Batman’s mind. 

“Nightwing, get back to Gotham,” Batman said once they were almost at the hanger where he hoped the rest of the team was waiting.

“Fine. But if Damian steps out of line—”

“I trust you to use your judgment accordingly,” Batman said now looking at Nightwing who was holding his phone out in front of him.

“This video is now a legal verbal contract between us that I have your explicit consent to discipline Damian however I see fit.” Nightwing pressed a button to stop recording and grinned at Batman.

Jason snorted at that. But Batman sighed heavily and turned away as if he was finished with Nightwing’s foolishness.

“Who’s Damian?” Jason asked curiously. 

Nightwing pressed his lips together as if he were unsure whether or not to answer.

“Robin, we’re moving out.” 

“I guess that’s  _ your _ cue,” Nightwing said and waved before he turned around and walked away.

“My name’s not Robin. Not anymore,” Jason muttered to himself as he walked towards Batman’s voice. 

“What should I call you then?”

“Red—” Jason cut himself off. Should he really tell this Batman that he went by Red Hood? “Fuck,” he said under his breath. “Robin is fine.”

Batman turned to look at him but refrained from saying anything else. He walked up the ramp into the Javelin where the others were already waiting for them. Batman gestured to a seat for Jason to take and went to the cockpit to sit with Cyborg.

Jason turned to look at Wonder Woman who was staring at him unabashedly. “Who did Batman have to extract?”

“Superman,” Wonder Woman said without missing a beat.

Jason gaped and looked over at Superman. “ _ You _ were captured?”

Superman nodded. “Darkseid is a lot more powerful than you realize.”

“Sure,” Jason told him not fighting him on that respect. “But it doesn’t matter how powerful he is. A mouse is to an elephant as a bat is to Darkseid.” Jason pointed to the bat emblem to his chest. He heard Cyborg chuckle from the cockpit and a grunt from Batman. Wonder looked confused about the analogy. Superman simply frowned as he listened. “I wasn’t the only bat to slip from his grasp. He won’t even know we were there unless we’re stupid enough to get in his face. And even then, just the sight of us will make him pause.”

“I hope you’re right,” Superman said and turned away from him as the ramp came up and the cargo doors closed. 

“Where’s J’onn?” Batman asked.

“Right here,” J’onn said as he slipped into the Javelin from the bottom of the plane. “I apologize for the tardiness. I had to explain to Shazaam that he was not needed on this mission.”

“Uh, that’s my bad,” Cyborg said as he started the Javelin. 

“When we get back we’re going to have a talk about how easily you impart information.”

Cyborg looked over at Batman to gauge how serious he was then he nodded and faced forward. 

“Nightwing sold you out,” Jason said with a wide grin. He heard Batman sigh softly. Superman looked over at him and Jason couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Aw, man, that’s not right,” Cyborg said in a slight whine. “It wasn’t like  _ I _ was spreading gossip.”

Batman held up a hand. “We’ll address the issue later.”

“Nah, man. Right now,” Cyborg said, upset. “Starfire overheard  _ your _ conversation with J’onn. I thought she was shitting me so I reviewed the footage and it confirmed what she’d told me. That’s it. If you need to have this chat with anyone it’s her. And it’s not like you can stop her from telling her boyfriend anything.”

“Welp, looks like  _ you _ need to reprimand yourself, B,” Jason with a chuckle. 

Batman turned to look at him and Jason knew he was being glared at. His smile fell off his face and he fidgeted a little. That made Cyborg chuckle. 

“Shut it, Vic,” Jason grumbled. That made Cyborg erupt into laughter. Batman grunted and turned back around to stare at Cyborg until he shut up, which in turn made Jason crack up. 

“Let’s head out,” Batman said curtly. 

“Oh, sure. Shut me up but let your boy Robin cackle all he wants,” Cyborg said under his breath only Superman was the only one who understood what he’d said. Everyone else heard mumbles. 

Superman pinched the bridge of his nose.  _ ‘Are you sure this is a good idea? For the two of you to go alone? He’s just a kid.’ _ He spoke telepathically through Martian Manhunter to Batman after asking him to link them up. 

_ ‘We’ll be fine, Clark,’ _ Batman replied through their mind link.  _ ‘Though I wouldn’t go through with this if I didn’t have you and Diana for backup.’ _

_ ‘That doesn’t set my mind at ease, Bruce,’ _ Superman responded. 

_ ‘I know,’ _ Batman said and closed his eyes.

_ ‘So long as you know… _ ’

_ ‘I’m not as arrogant as Hal makes me out to be,’ _ Bruce said dryly.  _ ‘But I can’t argue with the fact that I do know quite a lot.’ _

Superman covered his mouth and coughed to hide a laugh. Wonder Woman turned to look at him and raised a brow. Superman quickly waved a hand in her direction so that she knew he was okay. He inwardly sighed not wanting to thank Bruce for allaying his doubts about the current mission.

_ ‘Feeling better.’ _

_ ‘How could you possibly—?’  _ Superman started to say but was cut off by Batman. 

_ ‘You’re my friend, Clark. How could I not?’ _

_ ‘That’s why I’m worried because I know you. And you’ll be worrying about him more than you’ll be focusing on what you need to do.’ _

_ ‘Not as much as you’d think. I’m not you, Clark.’ _

_ ‘And that, Bruce, worried me too…just not so much anymore.’ Superman inwardly sighed. He caught Batman’s intake of breath that signaled he was about to speak. ‘Don’t say you know.’ _

_ ‘Even if I do?’ _

_ ‘Especially if you do.’ _

_ ‘Hnh.’ _

Superman coughed again to hide a chuckle. Then Batman grunted. Jason looked from one to the other and smirked. 

“Were you two just telepathically telling each other dirty jokes?”

Superman turned to give him a horrified expression. 

“Wait,” Cyborg said looking from Batman to Superman then back again. “Were you?”

Batman shot him a look. 

“So-rry,” Cyborg said, elongating the word. 

“Superman doesn’t know any dirty jokes,” Wonder Woman stated without looking at anyone. 

“Diana,” Superman said in disbelief. 

A huffed out laugh escaped Batman’s lips at that. Then Jason burst out laughing making Batman laugh in earnest. Diana smiled proudly at Superman who simply sighed in defeat. Though a smile played at his lips. 

“Interesting,” Martian Manhunter said, opening his eyes. He’d been meditating but he couldn’t help be aware of what was happening around him. 

“I’m recording this,” Cyborg said to no one in particular. “No one will believe me that Batman laughed otherwise.”

Once everyone sobered up, Cyborg prepared the boom tube since they were far enough away from the watchtower. 

“Alright people, look alive. We’re going in three, two, one!”

A boom tube opened up and after the Javelin passed through it, the party of six found themselves staring at Apokolips from afar. Batman stood up and gestured for Jason to follow him to the cargo bay. He held the mother box in his hands with the coordinates Cyborg had set and took hold of Jason’s arm before he pressed the button. They both fell through the portal. 

“I have them,” Martian Manhunter announced a moment later and helped Superman direct his vision to where they were. Wonder Woman waited on bated breath for word that everything was going as planned. Meanwhile Cyborg was sending a video of Batman laughing to the watchtower where Barry, Hal, and Shazam were probably bored out of their minds. 


	24. You are reading the twenty-fourth chapter

The portal opened up on the rooftop of a building. There was a walkway leading into it surrounded by the Parademons. Jason learned what they were called from Batman. Not that it mattered. Those creators weren’t human and not even completely organic. Jason was glad to know that. They’d be easier to get rid of without the morality conflict aftereffect that seemed to plague Batman whenever Jason killed someone no matter how vile. 

Batman explained that there were two readings he’d detected that could be Donna and Roy. It would be faster to extract them if they separated. Jason agreed and turned to leave in the opposite direction Batman had gone. Jason jumped down from the roof to the walkway towards two of the Parademons that were standing guard. The others milling around hadn’t noticed him yet.

Jason walked over to the Parademons with his expression blank. He relaxed his shoulders and steadied his breath before he began to run at one of the demons. 

The two Parademons glanced up as he approached. They shifted and looked at one another as if unsure of what they were seeing. Jason jumped and bounded off the wall off to the side of one of the demons before it could react. He reached for the blades attached to the belt on his back. Spinning towards them, he reached out and sliced into the neck of one of the Parademons. The other screeched in alarm and attacked Jason with his spear as the other fell boneless. But Jason used the spear to pull himself towards the demon just as he fired and managed to slit his throat as well. 

Jason turned, spear in hand, to fire once into another Parademon’s face. Without losing his momentum, he kicked open the door to enter the facility. He shot at anything that moved. He was out for alien blood. Each target received two blows. One to knock them down, the other to ensure they stayed down. He wasn’t going to slow down until he reached either Donna or Roy.

The Parademons in the vicinity were alerted to his presence. That was completely fine with Jason. If they were following him, Batman would be able to reach one of his friends and teleport them out before coming back for the other. In the case that Jason couldn’t shake the horde of creatures that were now moving in panic. Most were fleeing but those that stayed behind were cut down with their own weapons. Either from him or some other Parademon who shot at him and missed.

Jason is a force of nature as he rid himself at anything that came his way. He led the Parademons further and further into the building with reckless abandon. Eventually, Jason creates enough mayhem to corner the Parademons in a tight space where he dropped to his knees sliding under the legs of the creatures. He put away his blades and pulled out his daggers. He threw them every which way. Aiming for the inside of their mouths. 

The Parademons that had been screeching quieted down and Jason heard a loud booming sound just as his slide came to a stop. He jumped to his feet just to be knocked down as the demons were thrust at him. Two handfuls of demons had been thrown right at him. When he managed to come out from under the demons, he saw Donna hovering in the air. She was killing any Parademon that blocked her view. Those that could, escaped. Jason was about to call out to her but when she looked in his direction, her eyes were glowing red. She’d been taken over by Darkseid. Now Jason understood what Lilith had meant. She couldn’t stop it from happening. She only managed to escape by the skin of her teeth just as he had. Had they fought her? Jason didn’t want to find out. He needed help. He didn’t want to fight Donna. Not if he could help it.

He stealthily distanced himself to hide...as overhead, Donna searched for him in vain.

_ Fuck! _

Jason realized suddenly that Roy was probably fighting Batman.

Jason had no choice. He had to subdue Donna somehow and then either Martian Manhunter or Lilith could undo Darkseid’s manipulation. Or at least he hoped they’d be able to.

_ Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! _

Jason made his way around to Donna’s back. He made his way up to the exposed ceiling beams timing the noise of the grapple gun to a screech of a demon that Donna cut down with her sword. Jason ran across the beams easily and right when he was on top of Donna, he jumped down. One of the Parademons gave his position away by pointing his spear and screeching loudly. Jason cursed and threw a dagger at him. But Donna had already turned around and pulled Jason towards her with her left arm. Jason cursed and tried to contort his body to get free of her hold. But she released him making him falter mid-air. She used that moment to grab his chest armor and fly them down to the ground. 

“Aaagghh!” All of Jason’s breath was forced out of his lungs on impact. He quickly drew in as much air as he could. “Do-nna! It’s me...Donna!” He’d barely managed to choke that out. But it was as if Donna hadn’t heard him. She released his armor only to choke him. Jason couldn’t speak anymore. Or breathe. He could feel the darkness creeping in. But he managed to reach for the dart gun and shoot Donna in the neck right before he completely blacked out.

* * *

Batman had not expected to have a clear passage to his target. He knew, however, that it was due to Red Robin causing a distraction. Either way, he easily made his way to Roy Harper. But it had taken him over ten minutes as he passed a plethora of hallways and went down a few flights of stairs. Roy was being kept n some sort of stasis chamber. From what Batman could tell, they were about to begin the process of changing him into a Parademon. Batman looked over the computer console and contacted Cyborg so that he could walk him through stopping the program and releasing Roy. With a few quick directions from Cyborg, Batman released the young man from the chamber. But just as Batman was about to pick him up to carry him in a fireman's carry, Roy’s eyes opened. They were red. Batman understood what that meant and in before his next breath, he’d managed a strike to Roy’s neck that knocked him unconscious. 

“Clark, I have Roy,” Batman said as he handcuffed his arms in case he woke up. 

“You need to come back now, Bruce,” Superman told him in a stern voice. “Darkseid is aware of your presence. I don’t think he knows the Javelin is here. Get to the Javelin now. Diana and I are already on our way to extract Robin and Donna.”

“Did he contact you?”

“He is currently unconscious. As is the young woman.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll explain later,” Superman said just as he punched his way into the building where Donna and Jason were currently unconscious. 

Wonder Woman barreled her way through some Parademons making sure Superman had enough space to make his way back out. Superman carefully gathered the two youths and quickly made his way back out. Wonder Woman took down a few more Parademons before Superman called back to her.

“Diana, I know how much you like to kill monsters but you need to move now,” Superman told her.

With one more beheading, Wonder Woman flew past a group a Parademons that tried to follow but were incinerated by an omega beam from Darkseid. Wonder Woman had just barely cleared the area on time. 

“That was too close Diana,” Superman said already on the Javelin. 

“I’m almost there,” Wonder Woman said only a few seconds before she came on board the Javelin with Martian Manhunter’s help.

“Cyborg, we need a boom tube,” Batman told him once everyone was settled in.

“Already on it,” Cyborg said and counted down directing the Javelin through the portal.

“He saw us,” Batman said to Superman. 

“Yes,” Superman said tightening his hands into fists. 

“He didn’t expect us to make it out of there,” Batman said and gestured to the two they extracted and Jason with his head.

“Not only that, but I don’t think they ended up on Akopolips by mere chance.”

Batman looked at Superman for a beat before he nodded. They had to investigate the matter further and find out as much as they could from the young woman who’d managed to escape with her memory intact. 

* * *

By the time the group made it back to the watchtower, Lilith was awake and waiting expectantly. Roy and Donna were brought into the room where Lilith was kept. They had been kept sedated while Lilith and Martian Manhunter worked to remove Darkseid’s reprogramming. In the end, they had to wake them up. Roy and Donna had to choose on their own to reject Darkseid’s influence. Jason came to after a few hours of observation in the medbay. He was sore but thanks to the armor he’d borrowed, he had no broken bones. When he made it back to the others, Donna and Roy were back to their old selves. And they hugged him tightly when they saw him. Donna apologized for what she’d done. She remembered everything she’d done. But their conversation was cut short. Superman and Batman need to debrief the entire group.

Lilith decided to be the spokesperson since she was the one who knew more than the others. It began with Roy realizing something unusual about the universe orb. Donna had told him that the orb only contained the history of the multiverse. But he wondered how Donna could see those whom she lost in their dimension as if they would be if they'd survived in the others. He contacted Lilith to ask her about it. Only because he felt the orb itself was keeping Donna from moving forward with her life. But before he met up with Lilith, he’d secured the orb where Donna kept it for safekeeping. Donna was relieved to hear that but Jason groaned inwardly. He was berating himself for blindly following Donna. He didn’t regret mounting a rescue mission because regardless of what Donna had thought, Lilith and Roy had been shanghaied from their dimension to forcefully join Darkseid’s forces.

As Lilith explained, she was talking to Roy when a portal opened up and someone who claimed to be sent by the monitor asked them for help. Lilith had no idea that Donna was searching for Roy so when they ended up on the other side of the portal surrounded by Parademons in an alien spacecraft, she hadn’t expected Jason and Donna. The minor distraction cost her to lose her concentration and she was easily subdued as was Roy. Jason went berzerk and Donna freaked out but was ultimately forced to stop fighting unless she didn’t want Lilith and Roy to be killed. Jason meanwhile kept fighting the Parademons unaware of what was happening to the others. They were separated and taken to Apokolips where they were to receive their reprogramming. Lilith was able to break free of the mental stupor she was forced under. But since she wouldn’t comply with whatever reprogramming they had wanted to subject her to, she was sentenced to death. She barely managed to escape the omega beam. Though as she thought back to the moment, she believed she was allowed to leave because Darkseid wanted to draw Jason back to Akopolips. Darkseid didn’t seem to care if she survived the journey. If it hadn’t been for the chamber, she would have died. 

“I would have died too,” Jason said with a slight frown.

“He knew you’d survived and that you were here with the Justice League,” Lilith said and looked at Batman and Superman. “Do you know how he knew?”

Batman and Superman exchanged a glance. Then Batman produced the father box from his belt. Superman took it into his hand and crushed it.

“We’ll look into it,” Batman said with a slight frown. He could’ve opened up the box and found out if it had any surveillance on it. Now he had to ask Cyborg to go through their system to see if he could find a backdoor or virus that may have been implanted by Darkseid somehow.

“You said that you passed through the portal and onto a ship. Then you mentioned being taken from there to Akopolips. Do you remember where the ship you first ended up on was?”

“Here,” Lilith said and gestured with her hand out of the window. “In space, orbiting this earth.”

Batman and Superman exchanged another glance and after a beat, Batman nodded and made his way to where Cyborg was.

“Thank you,” Superman told her. “If there is anything you need, please let us know.”

“No,” Lilith said and looked over at Jason, Roy, and Donna who were quietly speaking to one another. “I think we’re ready to head back to our dimension.”

“Oh, well, in that case, let me inform the others so that they could say their goodbyes,” Superman said and took a step towards the door. 

“It’s best if we leave without interacting further. We’ve already made enough ripples,” Lilith told him and Superman nodded in understanding. “We appreciate all your help.”

Superman nodded but didn’t reply. He simply smiled slightly then made his way out of the room.

Lilith closed her eyes to concentrate her powers to contact the monitor. He would be the only one who could get the back. And before she knew it, he was standing before her. Without a word, he enveloped them all with light and they were gone as if they’d never been there. But they had been there and things were set into motion that no one could stop until they came to fruition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently writing 'their own weapons' is a tautology. But it would sound weird to me if I nixed own. So I left it. I'm sure there are plenty of other grammar errors. Sorry, I try my best to edit the chapters but I'm a novice. On that note, I didn't like the last chapter. I hope this one makes up for how long I sat on it before I posted it.


	25. You are reading the twenty-fifth chapter

Jason woke with a start and looked around his room. He felt like he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He scratched his head and grabbed his phone. It was the eleventh day of the month; only a few days short from his first shift at the 27th Precinct according to his lock screen. But he’d been certain he still had a month before his first day. He about jumped out of his skin when his phone rang in his hand. He juggled it a few times and when he got a hold of it, he realized he’d accidentally answered.

“Uh, Sam? Sam? Fuck it! Jay!” he heard a tinny voice say through the speaker.

“Tim?” Jason said as he neared the phone to his ear. “Where’s the fire?”

He heard Tim sigh heavily.

“Kid, what is it?” Jason asked, feeling his paranoia sink in.

“You dropped off the face of the map. Roy did too. I tried to track him down since it was the last thing you asked me to do before both of you vanished. So  _ you _ tell  _ me _ ,” Tim said in a rush becoming more aggravated the more he spoke.

“Wha...?” Jason said rubbing a hand over his face. “What was that about Roy?”

“You don’t remember?” Tim said and it sounded like he fidgeted in his seat.

“I had a dream about that asshole. I’m starting to remember that now that you mentioned him,” Jason mused. “Donna was there too. And B. And…” Jason’s eyes widened when he realized it hadn’t been a dream. He needed confirmation though. “Tim, let me call you back.”

“Wait, why?” 

Jason didn’t let him finish talking, he’d hung up and called Roy.

“Jay?” Roy said, sounding half asleep.

“Tell me that I didn’t just dream about jumping over to another dimension to save your stupid ass?!”

“You  _ did  _ just dream about saving my stupid ass in another dimension. I would know if that actually happened,” Roy said, sounding annoyed. “And stop screaming I have a fuckin—” Roy abruptly stopped talking and then Jason heard a lot of noise from the other end of the line as if Roy was tripping over his own feet. “Oh my god! I don’t think you just dreamt about hopping over to another dimension to save my stupid ass.”

“How did we get home? And why am I missing a month of my life?”

“Yeah, I have no idea,” Roy said. “Let me call you back.”

Jason stared at his phone and then once again it rang in his hand. “What?”

“You hung up on me, asshole,” Tim said.

“Sorry, Timmers,” Jason said and sighed heavily. “I’m having mental and physical difficulties.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I’m not sure. I’m waiting for answers too. But I think I was teleported to another dimension and then back again,” Jason said and rubbed his face again. 

“That’s why you were missing?”

“Yeah,” Jason said and sighed. “Are you out here, kid?”

“No, I’m in Gotham,” Tim said. “You want me to go over there?”

“No, no,” Jason said and sighed. “I think I’ll bite the bullet and head over there.”

“Seriously?” Tim said. Jason heard him shuffle a few things around. 

“Yeah, I think it’s time,” Jason said and then heard a beep on his phone. “That’s my other line. I’ll see you in a few hours, alright?”

“Yeah, okay. See you then,” Tim said and hung up. 

“Roy, what’s the story,” Jason said as soon as he answered the other line.

“Not much of one,” Roy said and sighed heavily. “Lilith said that our memories were erased by the Monitor. But I vaguely remember a few things.”

“Me too, but not a month’s worth. Not even a couple of days worth,” Jason said and rubbed a hand over his hair. Roy didn’t say anything, he simply sighed. “So that’s it. We’re being kept in the dark about the whole thing?”

“Yeah, but according to Lilith, we were being led around by the Monitor until we were separated at some point. You and Donna weren’t even supposed to be with us. She didn’t know why the two of you had been there. But we were taken hostage by some alien dictator and the Monitor retrieved us when Lilith remembered that all she had to do was contact him through their mental link or some shit. She said we fucked something up or whatever. She was being vague as fuck,” Roy said and then groaned. “My head hurts every time I try to think about it.”

“What if we talk to this Monitor asshole?” Jason said and Roy huffed out a laugh. 

“Good luck with that,” Roy said and it sounded like he shook his head. “I only know about him because of Donna. I had no idea that he was in contact with Lilith, too. But I guess it makes sense.”

“Why does that make sense?”

“Because they both died and came back,” Roy said and then snapped his fingers. “So did you. You’ve never met him?”

“I don’t think I came back the same way they did.”

“Oh,” Roy said and Jason could hear him rummaging through his cabinets. “Well, I don’t think you can contact him. He doesn’t exist in our dimension. So he just shows up in front whoever he wants to fuck over.”

Jason heard Roy eating something.

“Alright, well thanks for telling me what you could,” Jason told him. 

“Yeah, and hey, Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“Though I don’t remember exactly what happened, thanks for coming to save my ass.”

“Don’t get so sappy so early in the morning, Roy,” Jason said then they both chuckled. “See ya around.”

“Yup,” Roy said and hung up.

* * *

  
  


Gotham. It was nostalgic. It was home. 

Jason arrived as himself. His charms being put away for the time being. He sped through the busy streets without stopping until he reached the bridge that would take him into Bristol. He stared at it debating if he should just head back into the city. He sighed heavily and started his bike again. Onward it was. 

He parked his bike in front of the manor doors. He got off his bike and stared at the building. 

“There’s no place like home, right?”

He wasn't sure how long he stood there before the front door opened. When his eyes swept over to the doorway he saw Alfred standing there staring at him in disbelief. Figured that Bruce hadn’t told Alfred he was the one who’d called the manor that one time ages ago. 

“Hey there, Alf!” Jason said and smiled. 

“Oh, you cheeky brat. How dare you keep an old man waiting. I thought I’d raised you better than that,” Alfred berated though his voice was shaky with emotion. 

Jason chuckled and in a few short strides had the old butler wrapped in his arms. Jason pulled away first and wiped his eyes. Not even noticing that Alfred was busy doing the same. 

“Welcome home, Master Jason,” Alfred said with the poise Jason remembered him having. 

Jason cleared his throat and smiled. “Thanks, Alfie.”

Alfred showed him in and directed him straightaway to the kitchen. Without any prompting, he began to cook. Jason smiled and joined the man to help out. They talked for a bit but Jason never once brought up anything related to the Red Hood or his other secret identity. He hoped that stayed between him, Tim, and Superman. 

“Jason,” Bruce said coming into the kitchen. Alfred hadn’t told them they had a visitor. And he’d forgotten to call him up for lunch. Now he knew why. 

When Jason heard Bruce’s voice, his smile dropped and he looked over at the man. It took him a moment to take in the other man’s appearance. Bruce wasn’t looking too good. Not compared to the Bruce of another dimension that Jason had fuzzy memories from his recent visit. His vague memory of Bruce when he fought him last wasn’t a great comparison either. But the Bruce from before he died was years younger than the Bruce standing here now. 

“You look old,” Jason blurted out. 

“I suppose I do,” Bruce said while a tremulous smile played at his lips. “You look well.”

“I suppose I do,” Jason replied with a shrug. Then they both chuckled a bit.

Bruce made his way to the table and pulled Jason up by his arm to give him a hug. Jason hadn’t expected that and he stiffened for a bit before he melted into the touch.

“Welcome home, son,” Bruce said with a voice full of emotion.

“Thanks,” Jason said and cleared his throat. Then he added playfully, “ _ Old man _ .”

Bruce pulled away but kept his hands on Jason’s shoulder. “How are you really?”

“Alright, good, fine,” Jason said slightly annoyed and shrugged off Bruce’s hands. “I’m not sure which adjective will suffice. Pick one.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not here to talk about that,” Jason said and sat down letting out a huff.

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Bruce said and sat down as well. Alfred placed a dish before him taking him by surprise. He hadn’t noticed Alfred had even walked away. 

“Yeah, right,” Jason said and grabbed his drink to take a sip.

Bruce sighed and decided not to keep up that line of conversation. He decided to busy himself with dinner before he said something else that annoyed Jason. 

“I am doing just fine, you know,” Jason said as he looked over at Bruce carefully.

“I’m glad,” Bruce said and his face seemed to brighten a little at that.

Jason scoffed. “I’ll let you eat.”

“Where are you going?” Bruce asked in alarm.

“Downstairs to see if you have any new toys that I might want,” Jason said with a smirk. 

“Hnh.”

Jason chuckled and hurried downstairs to poke around before Bruce followed him. When he got down to the Batcave, he had to jump away from an attack. When he got a look at his attacker, he began to laugh. 

“Timmers, are you looking to get your ass kicked?” Jason said with a chuckle.

“By you? It’s not likely,” Tim said with a smirk.

Jason laughed. “Kid, I don’t want to hurt you.” Tim scoffed. “But I will.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Tim said in challenge and spun his bo staff in his hands.

* * *

  
  


After Bruce finished his meal he headed down to the Batcave with a warning from Alfred not to push Jason away or he’d have to eat from the gutter for the month. Not that Bruce would actually eat out of the gutters. But Alfred equated fast food to trash. Not that Bruce minded having a burger from time to time. Though he would sorely miss Alfred’s cooking after a week or so. Either way, it wasn’t as if he purposely wanted to alienate Jason. He was trying. Been trying since that first phone call from his son. But Jason constantly pushed him away. Bruce wanted to give him space and was careful about what he said. The opposite of what he’d done with Dick. And yet, it was still wrong. Bruce didn’t know what to do. But at the very least Jason had finally come home on his own accord. Bruce saw that as a good sign. A very good sign. 

Bruce heard the sounds of a fight when he was just a few steps down. He quickened his pace to see Tim and Jason sparring. They were laughing as they did. Bruce let out a sigh of relief and watched them for a few moments before he smiled at the two. Neither was taking the spar seriously. They were playfully trying to trip each other up. Seemed like the winner would be whoever made the other fall first. Bruce remembered Dick having played similar games with Jason and Tim. Thinking of his eldest made him run a hand through his hair. He sat on the chair of the Batcomputer and wondered how Dick was holding up. It had been a few months since he finished his undercover mission. And now Dick was completely off the radar. But Bruce had already heard rumors that Slade Wilson had a new apprentice. And the thought that it might be Dick made Bruce’s stomach boil. When he got his hands in Slade…

“B?”

“Hey, Bruce, what’s wrong?”

“Dad!”

Bruce looked up in alarm to see both Tim and Jason looking at him in concern. 

“What is it?” Bruce said, trying to sound casual. He was good at compartmentalizing so he could talk to the two boys as if he wasn’t worried about a third. He cleared his throat and slowed his breathing. 

“You looked like you wanted to kill someone there for a moment,” Jason said looking at him curiously. 

Bruce didn’t respond. He simply looked away and fiddled with something on his desk. 

“Bruce?” Tim said carefully. “What are you hiding?”

“Yeah, besides the fact that you know Dick is alive even though you told Timster here that he’d bit the big one,” Jason said in annoyance crossing his arms over his chest. 

Bruce turned to look at them both. So they knew. How did Jason know? He looked from one to the other and then he sighed. Of course, Tim has been in contact with Jason. Sam. Sam was Jason. He smiled at Tim but it was a minuscule upturn of his lips that neither Tim nor Jason noticed. That boy was too smart for his own good. 

“Dick wanted to lay low for a while,” Bruce said and rubbed a hand over his face. But it’s been too long. 

“That’s no reason to lie about him being dead,” Jason said. 

“Tim isn’t one to take no for an answer,” Bruce said, not looking up. “He could’ve gotten Dick killed if he went looking for him. I only said what was necessary.”

“You could’ve just told him the truth. Don’t you trust him?” Jason said, sounding more concerned than before. Tim was looking a little pale. 

Bruce looked up then. But he kept his eyes on Jason. “It’s not about trust. It was never about trust.”

Bruce turned on the computer and showed them both a file he’d made of Dick’s last days in Bludhaven. All the attacks from Blockbuster were directed to Dick, not Nightwing. All the deaths that lay heavy in Dick’s mind and heart. Then the culminating end. Bludhaven’s destruction and Blockbuster’s death. 

“Tim, I told you Nightwing was dead,” Bruce said and tightened his fist. “I did not lie about that. I never told you Dick was. You never asked me about it again and since this file wasn’t locked away, I thought you understood.”

“What?!” Tim said, throwing up his hands in the air. “I did read that file and I went to Bludhaven to investigate things further! But even Amy Rohrbach thought he was dead! How was I supposed to know you were speaking in riddles?!”

Bruce looked at Tim in surprise. Tim had been getting testy here and there with him while they were patrolling but he’d never had an outburst like this. He’d chalked it up to teenage hormones but it looked like he was angry at him about what he’d said about Dick. 

Bruce stood up and pulled Tim into his arms. He was not going to alienate another boy. 

“I’m sorry, Tim. I never meant to make you think he was actually dead,” Bruce said with a heavy heart. But now he was thinking the worst of Dick. Maybe he wasn’t dead but if he was not Slade’s apprentice… no, he wouldn’t think about that. 

“B, what the hell is going on?” Jason said looking at Bruce as if he worried he would break down too. 

Tim looked a bit shell shocked. But he didn’t say anything. 

Bruce pulled away from Tim and fell into his chair. 

“Dick finished his undercover assignment a few months ago. But since then he’s been off the radar,” Bruce stopped talking and a feeling of dread settled in the pit of Tim and Jason’s stomach. 

“Spit it out, old man,” Jason said in annoyance. 

“There are rumors that Deathstroke took in an apprentice. And they’re also saying that it’s a former Robin.”

Jason started to laugh really hard. Tim looked confused. And Bruce had that same lost look in his eyes he’d had before. He was beyond angry. 

“Are you saying that Dick is working with Deathstroke?” Tim said warily. 

Bruce didn’t respond but that murderous glare he had going on before was back. Tim took a step back even though he knew it wasn’t directed at him. 

“B, listen to me. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Timmy here a few months back. If Dick ‘The Golden Boy’ Grayson goes full-on Donnie Brasco, I’ll eat my own foot.” Jason started to laugh again. “He’s pulling Deathstroke’s chain for some reason. But he’ll be back. That’s one Robin you never have to worry about going over to the dark side. But if you keep lying to this one…” Jason gestured to Tim and winced in exaggeration. 

“Hey!” Tim said and playfully shoved Jason. “I’d have to be crazy to do something like that.”

“What are you talking about, baby bird?” Jason said with a smirk. “You’re already halfway to crazy town.”

They playfully shoved each other about. And Bruce took in Jason’s words. He really hoped Jason was right. For the moment he wouldn’t worry. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep trying to find his lost boy. But in the meantime, he had to try and hold on to the one that finally made his way back home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 27th precinct does not exist IRL. Just a little fun fact.


	26. You made it to the twenty-sixth chapter

Jason didn’t think he could leave on amicable terms from the manor. But he was glad to have been proven wrong. Perhaps seeing how distraught Bruce was over Dick and that he could apologize to Tim sincerely made Jason see Bruce in a new light. Or maybe it had something to do with his vague memories of having worked with a Bruce of a different dimension to save his friends. He didn’t want to admit to himself that he missed being the young naive Robin who fought alongside Batman all those years back. And yet that niggling feeling in the back of his mind was still there feeding his distrust and anger towards things that no one could have possibly controlled. Jason now knew to ignore it and he managed to do so during his visit. But that didn’t mean everything was back to how it used to be. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that. It was going to take time to rebuild trust and the father and son bond they had once upon a time. For now, at least they could be the dysfunctional family he’d always dreamt of having.

A couple of weeks later he was sitting at a bar after shift with Winters. They didn’t work out of the same precinct. Jason worked out of the 27th in Morningside Heights, close to where he lived. Winters wasn’t so lucky. They had her working out of the 33rd. Smack dab in Central Harlem. The area wasn’t the problem. The problem was the cops she was surrounded by. They were the worst of the worst. Only a couple days in, she was at her wit's end. She reached out to Garcia to vent a little. He called Jason since Garcia couldn’t keep an eye on her. He wasn’t in the city. He’d gone to a precinct upstate. So Jason called her up and took her out for a drink after shift. He didn’t ask her what she was going through. He figured if she wanted to share with him she would on her own time. Instead, they swapped stories.

“My very first call was an ambulance assist. A forty something-year-old male in cardiac arrest. Paramedics were rushing to get into the house when we arrived. My FTO and I followed them in. He tells me that our job was to keep family members and guests away from the bedroom, where the victim was,” Jason said with a chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Winters said curiously.

“It’s not funny. The situation. It was the predicament. I’d heard stories like this but never really thought I’d ever have to witness it.”

“So what happened?” Winters asked eagerly.

“Well, the victim was on the floor, naked, and very, very blue.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, he was gone. But the paramedics worked on him anyway. One of the paramedics asked the wife—who, by the way, was in her nightgown, worn backward—what her husband was doing at the moment of the heart attack. She said, bluntly, ‘We were having sex’.”

“Wow,” Winters said and Jason nodded a smirk playing on his lips.

“The paramedics got him on the gurney and into the ambulance to rush him to the nearest hospital. Then, we cleared the scene like we’re supposed to,” Jason said and pointed at the table for emphasis. “After we’re seated in the patrol, my FTO says to me with a straight face, ‘I wonder if he was on top in his last moments…did he ‘get off’ before he died?’”

Both Winters and Jason busted out laughing.

“Welcome to law enforcement,” Jason said, clinking his bottle to Winters’ once their laughter died down.

“That’s the whole of it,” Winters said with a shake of her head. “My first call turned out boring. A fuel spill that had to be babysat. We had a few non-events—looking for prostitutes, a fight that was nonexistent, a hit and run—all within one square mile of the spill. Most of the time I was directing traffic until the spill was finally cleaned up. Once we arrived at the station, all the paperwork was to be done by yours truly,” Winters said with a shake of her head. “That’s all I’ve been doing since. Paperwork on stupid shit. There’s been no shootings, no robberies. There were a few wrecks, DUIs, some domestics, more than a few speeders, and one ‘missing’ child. The child was found by my FTO sleeping in the house. The first officers at the scene didn’t search well enough, assumed she was taken and panicked everyone.”

“Too bad all missing children don’t end up that way,” Jason said somberly.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“You miss it, don’t you?” Jason said with a small smile.

“What?” Winters said feeling slightly confused at the abrupt change of subject with no context.

“The academy. It was boring as shit but we had fun,” Jason said and Winters smiled widely.

“A lot more exciting than the real thing that’s for sure,” Winters said and chuckled. “You know, I really hated your guts back then. In the beginning.”

“Oh?” Jason said perking up. “Are you saying you don’t anymore?”

“No, nothing like that,” Winters said with a smirk. “I still can’t stand your ass.”

“Same,” Jason said, mimicking her smirk.

“I’ll race you,” Winters said, standing up suddenly and pulling out a few bills from her pocket to leave them on the bar.

“What?” Jason asked and stood up too. “Race me where?”

“To the park!”

“Are you insane?” Jason said following her to the exit.

“It’s only a few blocks! And I haven’t had time to work out properly with these twelve-hour shifts. They’re killing me. I need to destress,” Winters said and took off down 123rd street towards Nicholas Avenue.

“Shit, this girl is crazy,” Jason said and rubbed a hand through his hair before he followed her. They’d both had a few beers but the park wasn’t that far. Well, not a few blocks away like Winters had said. More like three miles. Whatever, they would be fine. “Winters!” Jason called out when she rounded the corner and he lost sight of her. “Goddammit!” Jason pushed himself harder almost bowling over a couple who’d just crossed the street.

“Watch it, you maniac!”

“Fuck you! I did you a favor!” Jason said having seen the guy wrap his arms around his date protectively. Then he heard Winters laughing just up ahead. He was catching up to her. She’d gotten a little faster but Jason had longer legs.

Jason made it to the park first. He slowed but didn’t stop, allowing Winters to catch up. He grabbed her by the waist and swung her around. “I win!” he declared.

“Son of a bitch! I had a head start!” Winters said breathing heavily.

Jason chuckled and put her down but they were both laughing and ended up falling on their asses. Jason still had his arms around her and Winters bowed her head to his chest trying to calm down. She’d needed the release so bad.

The assholes at her precinct kept treating her like a secretary and pulling rank making her do all the grunt work. She learned the hard way to come into the precinct fully dressed. She didn’t change out of her uniform at the end of shift there either. And she knew she couldn’t complain. One word to IA about how she was being treated and she’d be marked as a rat. No matter what they did there was an unwritten blue code that had to be honored above all else. She would have to wait until her probationary period was over before she could switch precincts. She hoped she could wait that long. So the break from having to think about all of that was a godsend.

“Thanks,” Winters said suddenly with a serious expression.

“For what?” Jason said looking over at her and pushing them both up to a seated position.

Winters shrugged and smiled and Jason smiled back.

Jason couldn’t say who made the first move. But before he knew it, they were kissing. And then they were walking and kissing. Getting into a cab and kissing. Waiting for an elevator and kissing. Tripping out of the elevator heading towards his apartment and kissing. Then they were tearing each other's clothes off and tripping into his bedroom. They were both panting and crazy frantic to get on the bed, which of course they missed. The floor was fine. Jason had no complaints. Neither did Winters as she rocked her body on top of his. It was over before he knew it. He was breathing hard and so was she as she draped her body over his.

“Holy fuck, man! I thought shit like this only happened in porn!” Lucas said half laughing from the living room.

Jason groaned and Winters began to laugh. Jason grabbed his sheets and pulled them over their bodies. Neither of them had even noticed there was another person in the apartment.

“Aren’t you late for work?” Jason called out.

“Shift doesn’t start for another hour,” Lucas said and they heard him pop some caps off some beer bottles. The caps bounced off the ground a few times. They heard him approach. “Beer?”

“In exchange for what?” Jason asked in annoyance from under his sheet. Winters was still giggling.

“Nothing,” Lucas said, highly amused. “Unless you want to give me another show?”

“Get the fuck out!”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Lucas said with a chuckle after he’d settled the bottles down and closed the bedroom door which was another thing Jason forgot to do.

“Fucking asshole,” Jason muttered without any real bite before he started to laugh along with Winters who’d finally moved so she could reach the beer. “That’s the roommate.”

“Yeah, I gathered as much,” she said and handed a beer bottle to Jason who took it and practically chugged the entire thing in one gulp.

“So…” he said awkwardly.

“So…” Winters repeated as she watched him carefully.

“I was just wondering…” Jason cleared his throat and looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck feeling three shades of bashful. “What happens now?”

“I don’t know,” Winters said with a shrug. “How about we go one more round and then never speak about this ever again?”

“Works for me,” Jason said with a shrug.

“Don’t act like I stole your innocence,” Winters said and took another swig of her beer.

“What innocence? I think the last time I was innocent of anything I was still in my mother's womb.”

Winters snorted. “I figured.”

“What about you? You don’t strike me as the type to...ah, how do I say this without sounding like Dick?”

“Like _a_ dick, you mean?”

“Yeah, that too.”

“You’re not making any sense. But to spare you a conniption, I’ll tell you. I don’t do this. Ever.”

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

“No. That’s not _the_ problem. I have no problems in that area. The _problem_ is being dead set on a career that chews you up and spits you out just for having a vagina instead of a dick. I don’t know why I was… I was such an idiot.”

“It’s not easy for guys either, you know. I’ve seen a few guys walk off on their first day just because their FTO’s were bastards or quite simply couldn’t hack it. Then there are the ones that couldn’t even make it in the academy. You were at the top of our class. You’re two weeks in your probationary period. You should be proud.”

“I know,” Winters said and sighed. “You know, I didn’t want to talk about this. Or think about this.”

“So stop talking,” Jason said and reached out for her hand to pull towards him. She allowed him to pull her close and they locked lips.

Half an hour later, Winters was getting dressed quietly after having had a quick shower. Jason was watching her carefully hoping to God she wouldn’t regret what had happened. Or that the opposite would happen and she’d want something he couldn’t deliver. He didn’t have feelings for her. He found her attractive. And that whole frenemy thing they had between them just made the entire sexual interaction that much hotter. But that wouldn’t last. Sooner or later they’d just hate each other. He knew from experience. And he didn’t want that to happen between them.

“Hutchings,” Winters said as she turned to look at him. “This stays between us.”

Jason nodded.

“Seriously. I have money on this. Don’t fuck it up for me,” Winters said and started for the door. But Jason chased after her and caught her by the elbow to stop her from leaving.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Garcia and the other assholes at the academy had a bet about how long it would take for us to sleep with each other? I put money on ‘never’. So this has to stay between us.”

“_Never?_” Jason said and smirked. If he were honest, he’d say he told Garcia the exact same thing. Not that he would tell her. “So if I accidentally tell Garcia—”

Winters punched him in the arm.

“_Ow!_” It came out as more of a whine of protest to the treatment than a complaint about pain.

“Don’t say a word!” she hissed. “Seriously. I’ll split the winnings if you don’t.”

“Okay, okay,” Jason said in surrender and smiled feeling appeased. “Nothing happened.” Jason crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “But _seriously_, something did happen. Like twice. I remember.”

“Yeah, yeah. It was unforgettable,” Winters said in annoyance and then ducked her head when she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “I still hate you.”

“Same,” Jason said and chuckled.

“Just not as much,” she added in a softer tone. Then she looked up at him and grinned. “See ya, loser.”

“You mean _winner_. Because you haven’t beat me yet.”

Winters flipped him off and kept walking towards the elevator with her finger in the air making Jason burst out in laughter.

_Nothing’s changed_, he thought gratefully.


End file.
